Musée de l’Œuvre Notre-Dame in Strasbourg, France.

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Musée de l’Œuvre Notre-Dame

Strasbourg

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Occupying a cluster of sublime 14th- and 16th-century buildings, this museum harbours one of Europe’s premier collections of Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance sculpture (including many originals from the cathedral), plus 15th-century paintings and stained glass. Christ de Wissembourg (c 1060) is the oldest work of stained glass in France.

Hollywood gore seems tame compared to the tortures back when Hell really was hell. Sure to scare you into a life of chastity is Les Amants Trépassés (the Deceased Lovers), painted in 1470, showing a grotesque couple being punished for their illicit lust: the entrails of both are being devoured by dragon-headed snakes.

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