The painting as a whole is very dimly lit which contrasts with the white brightness at the end of the tunnel. The light at the end of the tunnel is not the light that lights up the bottom of the painting, which is most likely the earthly realm. The extreme darkness directly around the tunnel indicates that the heavenly light has nothing to do with the light coming from below. The areas outside the tunnel are dark and gray. The light actually becomes darker as it moves upwards then when it reaches the tunnel there is a sudden eruption of light. Coincidentally, this painting of the funnel has been known to look very similar to people who have had near-death experiences. During the fifteenth-century, the entrance to paradise was depicted as a funnel which appeared in many miniatures. The shape of the radiant funnel actually has some resemblance to contemporary zodiac diagrams but Bosch transforms it into a shining corridor through which the blessed approach God. Bosch's paintings reflect the religious themes that dominated art and society in the Netherlands during the sixteenth century, especially the Catholic religion. Almost everyone's duty was to behave and act like a good Catholic so that they could ascend into heaven. The consequences of sin were made so awful to frighten the faithful obedience into people with the ultimate punishments of weakening in purgatory and being sent to Hell. According to Reuterswärd, the limited number of people being admitted into Heaven “illustrates the remarkable specification contained in a treatise entitled "Van der Vorsieningkeit Godes", which circulated in the Netherlands in Bosch’s time, that out of 30,000 souls only two were likely to reach Heaven.” Whether Bosch read this treatise will never be known for sure, however it is known that there was a high number of monks and nuns that lived in his home city. It was even called “a pious city” because of its high quantity of confraternities and religious houses. Bosch scholars have other interpretations about the meaning behind these paintings, especially Ascent of the Blessed. The panels may come off straight forward and simple but there is a lot of dispute about the order of the panels and how they should be positioned in a museum. When hung in Venice in 2011, the order of the panels was "Fall of the Damned into Hell", "Hell", space, "Terrestrial Paradise", and "Ascent of the Blessed". The "Terrestrial Paradise" was placed on the left because it resembles other Eden panels by Bosch, especially with its landscape, fountain, and following biblical convention.