Fresco of the Deeds of the Antichrist (c. 1501) by Luca Signorelli, in Orvieto Cathedral

Fresco of the Deeds of the Antichrist (by Luca Signorelli)

The devil works typically through suggestion, insinuation, temptation, and seduction. He is essentially powerless until he finds men and women who will cooperate with him. The best visual depiction of this dynamic is in a fresco by the early Renaissance painter Luca Signorelli, which can be found in the cathedral at Orvieto. 

It is a dramatic picture of the advent of the antichrist. The central figure, looking every inch the stereotypical Christ figure, is listening intently to the whispered suggestions of the devil, who presses in close to him. Only a careful examination reveals that what looks like the antichrist’s left arm is in fact the arm of the devil, which has reached creepily through the antichrist’s vesture. Whose voice is it? Whose gesture is it? Both the man’s and the devil’s. So it goes. And so it has gone these past several decades as the dark power, through far too many willing cooperators, has done his work.

Source: Letter to a suffering Church - A bishop speaks on the sexual abuse crisis - Robert Barron (auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, US)