Where Does the Canonical Image of Satan Come From?

If I told you to imagine what the Devil looks like, you would probably have a very clear image in your head: a man with horns, red skin, a goatee, cloven hooves, and a tail with a point on the end, holding a pitchfork. This image of Satan is ubiquitous in popular culture. But where does it come from? The Bible never describes Satan’s appearance, so our image of Satan clearly doesn’t come from the Bible—or at least not directly. It must come from other sources. As it turns out, the conventional image of Satan developed gradually over the course of many centuries. Some aspects of Satan’s iconography (in particular the cloven hooves, horns, and pitchfork) are very ancient, while others (such as him being red and having a goatee and a tail with a point on the end) are fairly recent developments. The context of early Christian beliefs about Satan For the first over five centuries of Christianity’s existence, Christians never depicted Satan in art at all. Even after Christians did begin to…