ABSTRACT
The probability of the proposed relationship depends upon the extent to which the appearance of the graffito conforms to the established iconography of Hell. A variety of images were evolved by medieval painters to represent Hell which derived largely from the inversion and parody of their conception of Heaven, but when the vision incorporated the mouth of Hell it was invariably depicted as the maw of some real or mythical beast. The connection of the graffito with a Hell-mouth scaffold is reinforced and partly explained by the situation of Stetchworth. The description is easier to accept than the connection which, certain details of the drawing suggest, might more plausibly be made with the staging of Hell-mouth. On the evidence of a correlation between physical features then, it is reasonable to suppose that the graffito was inspired by some portrayal of Hell.
