Chinese Scroll Depicting Scenes From Hell: Unframed

Everybody in this courtroom knows how it ends, except the defendant.

This scroll depicting scenes from hell comes from China and dates to the 19th century, unframed. Hung during rites for the dead, paintings of this kind pictured the tribunals of the underworld and gave mourners a way to imagine, and pray over, what the departed would face. Two bearded magistrates preside from either side, surrounded by clerks reading from scrolls. A figure in red stands at the center of the gray court. At the bottom, an arched bridge and a tiled roof frame more figures at their trials. It measures 33.3 inches wide and 84.5 high.

Court is in session, and has been for some time.