Title of the painting: St. Bernard Liberating Souls from Purgatory (Vision of the Ladder)

Name of the artist: Philip Fruytiers

Date: 1653

Collection: Private Collection (Illustration from the book Sancti Bernardi Melliflui Doctoris Ecclesiae… Vitae Medulla, Antwerp)

Description: “Vidit Scalam et Angelos Dei ascendentes et descendentes per eam. Genes. 28. Liberat animas ex…” (He saw a Ladder and the Angels of God ascending and descending on it. Genesis 28. He frees souls from…). This engraving depicts St. Bernard’s vision of the “Scala Celi” (Ladder of Heaven) while celebrating Mass for the dead, seeing the souls he prayed for ascending to Heaven.

Visual description: This is a vertical copperplate engraving in black and white. It depicts an interior scene inside a church. On the left, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, dressed in the voluminous cowl of the Cistercian habit, stands before an altar celebrating Mass, his hands raised in prayer. To his right, a miraculous vision unfolds: a ladder extends from the ground towards the clouds in the upper right corner. Angels are seen assisting naked figures (representing souls) to climb this ladder, ascending from Purgatory into Heaven. The background features classical architectural elements, including columns and arches.

License: Public Domain / See here

Source: Wikimedia