Corpi dei Dannati allInferno sulla base della rappresentazione dalla Basilica di Torcello

Aleksandra Krauze-Kołodziej

Summary The aim of the article is to present the representation of the suffering of the Damned in Hell basing on the example of the mosaic complex from the west wall of the Basilica Santa Maria Assunta in Torcello. Detailed iconographic analysis and theological and historical interpretation is the subject of author’s doctoral thesis. The article consists of three main parts. The first one briefly presents the place where the mosaic is situated and then describes it. The main part focuses on the chosen fragment of the mosaic that shows the bodies of the Damned – at first in the scene with Hades as a ruler of the Underworld and then in the stripe below. The last part of the article presents both iconographic comparison between the scene from Torcello and other works of art from the same period, and possible interpretations of the chosen representation. In conclusion, the author discusses briefly the importance of the scene for the whole mosaic composition from Torcello, leaving the possibility of its wider interpretation for further research.