I took this picture in the Iglesia de Santa María de Betancuria, on the island of Fuerteventura.
Salvation awaits with the saints in Heaven, while the beasts of hell devour the sinners. The priests reach out to the poor souls, waist-deep in the fires of purgatory. They, and they alone, have the power of earthly redemption.
This picture has a single purpose: to terrify.
We cannot imagine the horror pictures like this invoked in the medieval mind. Every visitor to the church would be faced with this image of terror, hellfire, and eternal damnation.
Unbelievably wicked.
So yeah... 