Tartarus 1668

Abraham Dircksz. Santvoort created this etching titled ‘Tartarus’ sometime in the 17th century. During the Dutch Golden Age, art was often didactic, aiming to impart moral lessons. This work visualizes the torments of hell from a Christian worldview. Santvoort’s vision of Tartarus depicts a gruesome landscape filled with suffering souls. Bodies are impaled, burned, and crushed, each punishment tailored to earthly sins. The etching leans into the era’s fascination with dramatic and moral narratives, portraying divine justice as a brutal spectacle. It offers a glimpse into the anxieties of a society deeply concerned with sin, redemption, and the afterlife. Does this image of eternal suffering evoke fear, or perhaps a sense of cautionary contemplation about one's own actions and beliefs?