
Once and always a criminal? From prison to PhD
8 min
Where medieval manuscripts and illustrations find him towering and glowering, seething with hot, rancid breath and countless animal fangs, the go-to depiction of the Devil, humankind’s ancient enemy, is today often of a being polished though flawed, and a little tragic, more cordial than hypnotically tempting character. Elizabeth Stoker Bruenig says that that’s a great shame.