M
ModernCatholic
Guest
I do like the idea behind this and I think it’s quite funny but it does disturb me a bit-the fact that the devil is made to be black (dark brown) in order to contrast with the whitness and “purity” or Mary, Jesus, and the Angels. I am aware that in European cultures at the time when this was painted, whitness (as well as blondeness) was seen as angelic and pure. The opposite of that of course would be dark skin. It would make sense why that is then excellently portrayed in this image. I am not a person that goes around caling out people for racism and in this image I don’t really believe that that is the main drive. And of course you must also take into account that the devil looks like a beast, dragon human combination, not just like a dark person. The artist(s) just portrayed what was different and ugly to them, not in relationship to dark skinned people. Yet this still brings to me painful memories of what it sometimes feels like going to my local parish’s latin mass and perfectly also reimagines what I believe to be the initial reaction of Europeans and their culture (which is deeply tied to Catholicism) to the “discovery” of black people. It just disturbs me being reminded of this unfortunate culture clashing in an image which is supposed to represent an aspect of my religion. It is still a thing that troubles me today. But it’s a nice image thanks for sharing!