The Satanic. Satan Sowing Tares 1882

"The Satanic. Satan Sowing Tares" is a lithograph by Belgian artist Félicien Rops, created in 1882. Rops, known for his provocative and often controversial imagery, depicts Satan as a skeletal figure with elongated limbs, striding across a cityscape and scattering small winged figures—symbolic of souls. This lithograph, part of Rops’s satirical and critical commentary on societal morality and religious hypocrisy, reflects the themes of temptation, sin, and the fall from grace prevalent in 19th-century art and literature. The artwork's graphic and unsettling visual style is characteristic of Rops's later works and emphasizes the sinister and allegorical nature of the subject matter.