Alonso G. Smith

Treachery From Lower Hell

Treachery From Lower Hell

1993, oil/canvas, 60" x 40"


Secretly conniving from the lowest circle of Dante's "Lower Hell", and responsible to no one but itself, the invisible secret government manipulates people, nations, policies, and legitimate constitutional democracy. The four circles of lower hell, stacked like bracelets with one on the other, are reserved for sinners condemned forever for Violence, Fraud, Deceit and, worst of all, Treachery. The secret government, in its hellish bargain with the devil, manufactures lethal machinery at all levels, then sends monstrous schemes up through ducts to the surface world; there they corrupt the oil-soaked Rose Garden, the Pentagon, Capitol and halls of Congress and Justice. Out of their hidden and deadly machinations come unrestrained lies and cover-ups, assassinations, torture, war, dictatorships, drugs and more; out of any bargain with the devil comes the end of the democratic ideal.