In the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland — check current display status with the museum.
FROM THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART’S CATALOG
This painting focuses upon the struggle between good and evil for the soul of a young woman. Looking out at the viewer, she is shown in the upper center of the composition, immediately below an angel and directly above Satan. At the upper right Saint Michael—holding scales for weighing the goodness of souls—admits the blessed to Heaven. Below, the Damned struggle to avoid the fiery pits of Hell and the demons that will torment them for eternity. At the time Tassaert painted this work, France was undergoing considerable political upheaval. In 1848, the country was wracked by a civil war between royalist and republican forces. Tassaert himself believed strongly in the Republic, and probably intended the young woman—caught between the sensual, worldly temptations of royalist excesses and the noble, pure ideals of the Republic—to personify the country of France.
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John Faed (Scottish, 1820–1902) — Expulsion of Adam and Eve
Gustave Doré (French, 1832–1883) — Liberty
Anne-Louis Girodet de Roucy-Trioson (French, 1767–1824) — Au
Pieter Soutman|Peter Paul Rubens — The Fall of the Damned
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo — Allegory of the Planets and Cont
Francesco Guardi (Italian, 1712–1793) — The Sacrifice of Isa
Maarten van Heemskerck — The Brazen Serpent
Cornelius van Poelenburgh — Mercury bringing Psyche to Mount
Alexandre Cabanel — Le Paradis perdu
Aert Pietersz. — Last Judgment
Maria Catharina Prestel (German, 1747–1794) — The Triumph of
Odilon Redon — Triumph of Truth
