Descent to Limbo

According to the Gospel of Nicodemus, after his death Christ descended into Limbo (or to Hell) to free the righteous who had died before his coming --

• Descent to Hell, 1308-11, by Duccio
• Descent into Limbo, c. 1320, by Pietro Lorenzetti
• Descent into Limbo, 1320-25, by Giotto


• Descent of Christ to Limbo, 1365-68, by Andrea da Firenze
• Christ in Limbo, 1440s, by Friedrich Pacher
• Descent into Limbo, c. 1445, by Master of the Osservanza
• Descent to Limbo, 1555, by Cristofano Gherardi

Three works by Durer --

• Harrowing of Hell, or Christ in Limbo, 1512, by Albrecht Durer (engraving)

• Christ in Limbo, 1510, by Albrecht Durer (woodcut); Christ in Limbo, 1511, by Albrecht Durer (woodcut)

And a related theme --

• Christ appears to his mother with the Redeemed of the Old Testament, c. 1500, by Juan de Flandes