jothelibrarian:

Pretty medieval manuscript of the day is a hellish scene from the Hortus delicarum, a twelfth century illuminated book. According to Wikipedia:

Hortus deliciarum (Latin for Garden of Delights) is a medieval manuscript compiled by Herrad of Landsberg at the Hohenburg Abbey in Alsace, better known today as Mont Sainte-Odile. It was an illuminated encyclopaedia, begun in 1167 as a pedagogical tool for young novices at the convent. It is the first encyclopedia that was evidently written by a woman. It was finished in 1185, and was one of the most celebrated illuminated manuscripts of the period. The majority of the work is in Latin, with glosses in German.

Sadly the manuscript was destroyed in a fire in the nineteenth century, but many of the illustrations, including this one of hell, had been copied. This is, as far as we can tell, a faithful reproduction of the original illumination from the twelfth century.

A PDF version of the book’s text (in German) is freely available.

Image source: Image declared as public domain on Wikimedia Commons because its copyright has expired.

This is an amazing work, but…doesn’t everyone look a little too cheerful, considering?