Man Screaming (also known as Study for Hell) 1895

John Singer Sargent rendered this charcoal drawing, “Man Screaming”, as a study for Hell. Here we see raw agony—a primal scream that echoes through ages. The figure’s contorted pose and anguished expression evoke the Laocoön, an ancient sculpture where a Trojan priest and his sons are strangled by serpents. That image was, and remains, a pinnacle of human suffering. Think of it as the embodiment of pain. This scream is a gesture passed down through art history to express extreme torment. We see its echo in countless depictions of hell and damnation, each a testament to our collective fear of suffering. The scream itself is a powerful symbol. It transcends language, tapping into a universal human experience of distress. This image is a reminder of the enduring power of archetypes and the cyclical nature of human expression, where the echoes of the past continually resonate in the present.