Roundel with Souls Tormented in Hell
1500–1510
Medium
Colorless glass, silver stain, vitreous paint
Dimensions
Overall Diam.: 8 7/8 in. (22.5 cm) --without lead
Classification
Glass-Stained
Culture
South Netherlandish
Department
The Cloisters
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Cloisters Collection, 1932
Accession Number
32.24.43
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the dim glow of a Gothic chapel, this striking *Roundel with Souls Tormented in Hell by Dieric Bouts transports visitors to the fiery visions of late medieval piety. Crafted in South Netherlandish workshops around 1500–0, the 8⅞-inch colorless glass roundel vividly captures damned souls writhing amid demons, their naked forms—especially the female nudes—emphasizing vulnerability and eternal suffering. Such circular panels were popular decorative elements in domestic or ecclesiastical settings, serving as moral reminders of the afterlife's perils. Bouts, a master of the Northern Renaissance...