Stained-Glass Demons – Strasbourg, France - Atlas Obscura

Stained-Glass Demons

Strasbourg Cathedral

Explore this medieval cathedral by trying to spot all the malevolent monsters hiding in its beautifully colored windows. 

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Inside the magnificent Gothic cathedral of Strasbourg, the multicolored stained-glass windows portray a macabre menagerie of strange and sinister demonic denizens of Hell, revealing the terrors that haunted the medieval mind in centuries past.

Look closely at this religious artwork and you’ll spot demons dancing from men’s mouths, trying to corrupt and tempt saints, or presiding over the burning of “sinners” in hellfire as they look on and leer. Many of these demonic entities look distinctly like the orcs of The Lord of the Rings; others look much more like whimsical creations of Dr. Zeuss. One of the demons in particular bears a striking resemblance to a beast from Maurice Sendak’s fantastical book, Where the Wild Things Are

The reason for portraying these nightmarish creatures alongside the images of suffering sinners, pious priests, and stoic saints was likely to terrify the people in the church congregation. These colorful windows would have essentially been used as an artistic complement to the priests’ sermons, to paint a fearful picture of the torments of Hell. In the 14th century, this was just one of many methods authorities believed was conducive to producing  “Good Christians.” 

This was a time when horrors such as famine, the deadly Black Death, “Saint Anthony’s fire,” warfare that often lasted centuries, and the show-trials and burning of “witches” plagued the Franco-German region of Europe. These hardships were commonly attributed to the supernatural, and as such, the belief in the existence of such nightmarish demonic beings as depicted in the stained-glass windows of Strasbourg Cathedral was widespread. 

Know Before You Go

The Strasbourg Cathedral is impossible to miss as it towers above the surrounding buildings and is located in the center of the city. The cathedral is open from October to March from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., April to September from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and from June to August from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. The entrance fee is €4,40 with a discount for card-carrying students. The stained-glass demons can be spotted in the windows of the northern transept of the cathedral. Be sure to check out the even older medieval "emperor windows" too.

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February 15, 2019

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