Officina Libraria Comparative Hell: Arts of Asian Underworlds

Seventy exceptional and visually stunning Asian artworks, ranging in date from the eighth to21st-century, are reproduced in dazzling colour plates in this catalogue Objects are drawn from public and private collections based in the United States and Europe Historical portrayals alongside contemporary scenes of hell, revealing the differences, convergences, and influences of religious beliefs, archetypes, and artistic practices across cultures and time Hell has been embodied and portrayed in terrifying, bizarre, and occasionally humorous incarnations across religions and cultures for millennia. Whether considered as places of eternal or finite punishment, underworlds provide a rich setting for a potent cast of characters that have caught the imaginations of artists and patrons who have shaped the visual cultures of Asia’s systems of belief, particularly Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Islam. Through masterpieces from West Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, and the diaspora, paired with essays from renowned scholars, this publication explores both differences and similarities in conceptions of the afterlife and artistic practices from religion to religion and culture to culture. This journey through judgment, punishment, and even the pro-mise of salvation sheds light on the fundamental questions of life, death, and existence.