The diabolical plays a major role in Hieronymus Bosch's work : the representation of Hell and the devil expresses a vision of the world, deeply influenced by religion.
His universe is dominated by the fear of death and the end of the world, with the theme of the Last Judgement recurring over and over again. He depicts Christ's sufferings, Christian saints, as well as religious concepts and rituals. His paintings, bristling with life yet frightening, depict a distraught, incoherent universe, possessed by the burning sensation of sin. The way in which Bosch represents devils and demons is integral to the religious and moral questions of the time.