Renaissance art linked black Muslims directly to the devil and damnation

Evidence

Although Turkish figures, typified by light skin and turbans, were commonly featured in Renaissance depictions of Christian martyrs, black Muslims make appearances as well. It is likely that this character is the Black Turk, a character as connected to the devil, much like his predecessor, the Black Saracen. In some cases, this character was identified as a “Moor,” a word used as a general descriptor for all Muslims. Black Muslims were often featured in scenes that portrayed the devil. Following the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, there was a parade featuring a Black African as Charon, the ferryman who transported souls to Hades, as well as the occupant of the boat, an Ottoman, both symbols of Islamic damnation. — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 268

Categorization

• XREF: Connects directly to the reader’s armed-guard focus on how the ‘Black Saracen’ figure from earlier chapters persists into Renaissance visual culture as a devil-linked type. — connects to: Dark skin signified sin and the devil in Christian theology from the fifth century.; Hell’s paintings filled with Jewish, Muslim, and African monsters torturing humans.; Blackness itself, not monstrosity, signified Muslim evil in medieval imagery — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 201 (+4 more)
• SEED: The Black African cast as Charon ferrying an Ottoman to Hades after Lepanto is a vivid single image for an essay on how victory parades recast enemies as damned souls.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 268

Broader Connections

• Austrian theater masks gave Satan the exact face of a Black Muslim #exemplifies (0.80)
• The dark-skinned Muslim monster persisted from medieval iconography into American imaginations #expands (0.70)
• Medieval Muslim-monster imagery persists today through Gothic horror and Orientalism #expands (0.60)
• Medieval accounts imagined Muslim lands as sunless devil-haunted spaces #expands (0.50) — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 119