A Glimpse into Hell, or Fear

Arts of the Americas

1888–98

Elihu Vedder
American, 1836–1923

Elihu Vedder probed questions of the mind in his paintings and illustrations, creating complex, visionary compositions often centered on literary or spiritual subject matter. The lunette A Glimpse into Hell, or Fear is drawn from 14th-century poet Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, the first part of his epic poem, Divine Comedy. Here, five females confront the gate of Hell. Beholding such a sight, they express apprehension and fear, accentuated by the swirling forms of their draperies and hair. Vedder focused on the figures’ psychological tension, rather than the spectacle of the environs itself, depicting only a sliver of fiery flames at bottom left.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of the Americas

Artist: Elihu Vedder
Title: A Glimpse into Hell, or Fear
Place: Rome (Place depicted:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: c. 1888–1898
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 40 × 52.4 cm (15 3/4 × 20 5/8 in.)
Credit Line: George F. Harding Collection
Reference Number: 1982.776
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/97884/manifest.json

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.