For lack of electricity, there was no TV.
For lack of TV, there was no Big Brother.
For lack of Big Brother, people didn’t have anything to talk about and so got bored.
For lack of anything to talk about, the Church decided that people were up to no good and so commissioned painters to paint the scariest devils to keep the people in check.
All for the lack of electricity….
Thankfully, Flemish painters between the Fourteenth and Sixteenth century didn’t lack the truculent imagination needed for the most absurdly outlandish devils and vile creatures which the human mind can conjure.
Hyeronimus Bosch was a specialist in strange creatures, and put them even in serious scenes like the crucifixion:
While the trumpets of the Apocalypse sounded, the trumpeters themselves had trouble keeping up….
In such cases, cats stole as much food as they could, and guarded it jealously:
But you know what? The world goes on all the same, even without you, as Icarus found out: while all the men go about their daily toil and business, the tragedy of the hero who wanted to escape the Minotaur, but was undone by the sun, is quietly consumed on the right bottom corner; everyone else is intent in looking the other way:
More fortunate are the angels, who at least have wings. Some even think they can fly, and sprout feathered appendices on their heads…
In the end, nothing comes for free and you always have to pay up….
….but that, as they say, is a different kettle of fish.
