The Hellmouth (Retable of the Last Judgment, Haguenau)

This polychromed wood carving depicts a central golden demon with goat-like legs and black horns, standing within the gaping, toothy mouth of a monstrous creature. To the left, a man in a red tunic is being forcibly pulled into the maw by a chain held by the demon. Surrounding the demon are several naked human figures in positions of anguish, with hands on their heads or faces, huddled in the darkness of the beast's throat. Above the Hellmouth, stone-like recesses show a skeletal figure and a small, lone human figure emerging from the ground.

This sculpture is a manifestation of the medieval iconographic tradition of the 'Hellmouth,' a symbol representing the entrance to Hell as derived from biblical depictions of Leviathan and the Last Judgment. It served as a didactic pedagogical tool for the faithful in the Church of Saint-Georges in Haguenau, France.