Welcome to another day of Demon Week here at Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State! I love to incorporate weird, supernatural art into my posts, so when I stumbled upon this image, I knew instantly that I wanted to included it into this week's theme.The oil painting, called The Suicide of Judas, was completed around 1491 by Italian artist, Giovanni Canavesio.
It depicts the suicide of Judas Iscariot following his betrayal of Jesus Christ in a rather...stylized?...way. Apparently, when sinners die, the soul (which is a tiny, well-groomed, naked version of our outer body) is plucked from our chest cavity by a hairy little demon, not much bigger than our naked soul baby.
This is a pretty horrifying image today; I cannot imagine how much of an impact it must have had in the 15th century. While the demon/devil isn't necessarily depicted as too ghastly, its still a disturbing enough image to make me rethink sinning!
The Suicide of Judas can found in the Chapel of Notre-Dame des Fontaines, near La Brigue, along with Canavesio's other religious works. And just a quick note: Obviously this is a historical piece chosen for its demon imagery, but it is in no way intended to make light of the very serious suicide problem we are facing today. Depression affects people from every walk of life, and suicide touches our young, our celebrities, our veterans, our marginalized communities, and everyone in between---many whom you would never know by simply looking at them. Be good to each other and reach out to those who might be struggling. Stay spooky---and catch me over at Theresa's Haunted History Facebook page for more demonic posts throughout the week!
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