INVITATION TO A LECTURE: EVIL AND THE PRINCE OF THIS WORLD

How was evil made visible in art? What role did the seven deadly sins play in the Christian worldview, and how did these concepts change at the dawn of the Early Modern period?

On the occasion of the exhibition *Seven Sins: Art Between Temptation and Resistance*,Jürgen Müller traces the development of iconography depicting sins and vices from the late Middle Ages through the 16th century. Drawing on works by Hieronymus Bosch, Hans Holbein the Younger, and Pieter Bruegel the Elder, among others, he demonstrates how medieval conceptions of sin, temptation, and the Last Judgment gave rise to depictions of human vices rooted in everyday life. A look at how the theme has been portrayed in film—from Fritz Lang’s *Metropolis* to David Fincher’s *Se7en* —highlights the enduring relevance of the subject.