Though it is perhaps best known for being the cover of Black Sabbath's 1981 album Mob Rules, this painting, by Greg Hildebrandt, was not originally created with that intention. Originally titled Dream 1: Crucifiers this 1974 painting was from a series of dream paintings, and it has a little-known but very important origin for Greg.

In 1963, Greg and his brother Tim started to work for the Catholic church under the warmth and guidance of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, a man for whom Greg still has great love, admiration and respect. For 6 years the two brothers worked for the church making documentary films on world hunger. In the middle of that six year period, Bishop Sheen was transferred to a different diocese outside of his original Manhattan location. In 1969, those who had replaced the Bishop closed down the projects Greg and Tim had been working on, thus ending their involvement with the church, and beginning the end of Greg's connection to the Catholic faith.

"After 6 years of making these films on world hunger, I became acutely aware of the hypocrisy of the institutional church and the lies I was told and grew up with in that organization--and the cover up of the atrocities committed in the name of Christ.

Out of this conflict came a series of horrific dreams that I had over a period of the next two years, which is the time immediately following my departure from religion. These dreams did not come from my feelings about leaving the Catholic faith. They came from the atrocities perpetrated by the church--and in the name of religion as a whole--and the darkness of mankind disguised as Christianity."

- Greg Hildebrandt

(Source: spiderwebart.com, which (as of spring 2021) posted the original painting for sale. So if you have $200,000 in your pocket...)

Editor's note: while the gallery-notes above date the painting to 1974, the lower left corner says 1971--soon after, or perhaps even during, the recurrent nightmares inspiring it. I trust this earlier date; it explains some of the painting's scary intensity. Does this feel to you like work done years later, in serene recollection?

-Chris Wayan

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