Hellmouth

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A hellmouth is a depiction of the entrance to Hell as the gaping mouth of a huge monster. Hellmouths are first present in Anglo-Saxon art and often appear in scenes of the Last Judgment and Harrowing of Hell in the late medieval period in Europe and at times, during the Renaissance and later. Hellmouths were used in polemical popular prints after the Protestant Reformation, when figures from the opposite side would be shown disappearing into the mouth. A notable late appearance is in the two versions of a painting by El Greco of about 1578. Political cartoons showed Napoleon leading his troops into a hell mouth. Medieval and early modern theater incorporated hellmouths as props and mechanical devices like trapdoors to give the audience a dramatic, vivid vision of an entrance to Hell. A hellmouth was intended to remind a Christian audience of the danger of damnation. Those shown entering, or already inside, are typically shown naked, their clothing not having survived the general resurrection of the dead that is often part of the same image. Some, even if naked, wear headgear indicating their rank at the top of society, with the papal tiara, king's crown and bishop's mitre the most common. Far rarer are indications of people being non-Christian, such as the Jewish hat.