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Pseudo-Jacquemart, The Harrowing of Hell From the Petites Heures of Jean de Berry French (Bourges), c. 1385-1390 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Latin 18014, fol. 166r |
The antiphon for December 20 reads: "O Key of David, opening the gates of God's eternal Kingdom: come and free the prisoners of darkness!"
This plea echoes the words found in the Apostles Creed regarding what is known as the Harrowing of Hell.
The Apostles Creed, prayed by virtually every Christian denomination that uses a creed, says of Jesus the "He descended into hell" following His death and before the Resurrection.
The fact that this subject is found in the Apostles Creed testifies to its early appearance in Christian belief, as does the Ancient Homily for Holy Saturday, which is a reading from the Divine Office for Holy Saturday.
"Something strange is happening—there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.
He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all.” Christ answered him: “And with your spirit.” He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”
I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated.
For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.
See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.
I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell.
The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.
Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them
worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity."
This belief is that during the time between His death on the Cross and the Resurrection, Jesus descended to limbo to free the souls of the previously deceased just who were confined in waiting there. Limbo is a place of darkness and peace, but not of the Presence of God, which had been lost through Original Sin. Their souls were confined to limbo because had been barred from entering heaven by Adam's sin, but they were set free by Christ's saving death. For them He truly became the Key of David, breaking down the walls of death and leading the captives to freedom and joy.
There is a long tradition of images in art illustrating this subject.
In the East the tradition culminates in the dramatic and dynamic Anastasis of the church of Saint Saviour in Chora in Istanbul, in which Christ seems to drag Adam and Eve from their graves.
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| Anastasis (Harrowing of Hell) Byzantine, 1316-1321 Istanbul, Church of Saint Saviour in Chora |
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Nicholas of Verdun, Harrowing of Hell Mosan (Meuse region), 1181 Klosterneuberg Austria, Klosterneuberg Priory |
There are two distinct types of iconography that apply to most of these images. In one, Christ breaks down actual gates, which are often shown thrown to the ground or hanging off their hinges.
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| Harrowing of Hell From the Psalter of Christina of Markyate_ English (St. Alban's), 1124-1145 Hildesheim, Dombibliothek Page 49 |
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| Workshop of Duccio, Harrowing of Hell Italian, 1308-1311 Siena, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo
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| Fra Angelico, Harrowing of Hell Italian, 1437-1445 Florence, Museo di San Marco |
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| Master of the Osservanza, Harrowing of Hell Italian, c. 1445 Cambridge (MA), Fogg Museum |
In the other Christ leads or sometimes drags the souls of the dead from the 'mouth of hell', shown as the jaws of a whale-like monster or from a cave that resembles an open mouth.
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| Harrowing of Hell From Miniatures of the Life of Christ French (Northern), 1170-1180 New York, Pierpont Morgan Library MS M 44, fol. 11v |
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Andrea da Firenze, Harrowing of Hell Italian, 1365-1368 Florence, Santa Maria Novella, Capella Spagnuolo |
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| Alabaster Relief, Harrowing of Hell English, c. 1440-1470 London, Victoria and Albert Museum |
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| Luca Penni, Harrowing of Hell Italian, c. 1547-1548 New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art |
In both types He carries the staff, topped with a cross or with a pennant bearing a cross, that is His banner of victory over death.
Later images show Christ dragging the souls of the just from a more generalized image of a limbo jammed with just souls in waiting. In these images the iconography of the gates or the mouth of hell is not as emphasized as in the earlier images.
Later images show Christ dragging the souls of the just from a more generalized image of a limbo jammed with just souls in waiting. In these images the iconography of the gates or the mouth of hell is not as emphasized as in the earlier images.
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| The Harrowing of Hell From a Book of Homilies German (Lower Rhine), c. 1320-1350 Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum MS W. 148, fol. 21r |
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| Friedrich Pacher, The Harrowing of Hell German, c. 1460s Budapest, Museum of Fine Arts |
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| Andrea Mantegna, Harrowing of Hell Italian, 1468 Private Collection |
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| Tintoretto, Harrowing of Hell Italian, 1568 Venice, Church of San Cassiano © M. Duffy, 2023 |
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