‘That painting stuck with me for a long time, and when I was asked what I would do if I could make Diablo 4, that painting was in the front of my mind. He told GamesHub that seeing Theodore Géricault’s ‘The Raft of the Medusa’ in person as a child left quite the impression on him – and for obvious reasons. While each previous Diablo game has certainly had its signature approach to the overall atmosphere and visual themes, this distinctly art-first approach was very unique for the studio in general, says Mueller. Read: Pentiment Art Director talks about creating its striking manuscript style ‘If you think about a dark gothic medieval fantasy, it harkens back to a lot of “Old Masters” paintings from this period of time, where there are angels and demons being represented, with humans being caught in the middle of this conflict between heaven and hell, and it was very apropos for Diablo. It sounds like something that would be depicted in a William Blake painting (perhaps ‘ Satan Calling Up his Legions‘) and that was the whole intention, says Diablo 4 Art Director, John Mueller. Where hordes of demons and beasts are constantly at the gates, and heroes adorned in plate armour and animal furs fend them off with swords, magic, and otherworldly creatures of their own. It’s a game where bodies are flayed, and people are possessed. But where Pentiment is a narrative game that focuses on an artist-in-training solving a series of murders in a monastery village, Diablo is a bit more… medieval. Diablo 4 follows in the wake of work like Pentimentin 2022, a game whose events are presented in the form of Medieval manuscripts. There’s been a small wave of games heading far back in time for stylistic influences. The latest entry in an almost thirty-year-old series, Diablo 4 has struck a chord for not only being the biggest and best yet, according to critics, but the boldest as well, with a striking art direction that brings its dark gothic world to life through the lens of Baroque and Romantic era painting styles. The work isn’t in a gallery, sadly (or perhaps thankfully, given the hypothetical crowds), but it’s contained within Diablo 4, a gothic action role-playing game developed by Blizzard Entertainment.

It’s June 2023, and a surge of over 2.5 million people are feverishly engaging with contemporary implementations of pre-20th Century European art styles and techniques.

Diablo 4 concept art