“Depictions of the Last Judgement in the neo-Gothic, are striking for what they leave out.”
The Salisbury Doom
One of the most prevalent Western iconographic images is “The Last Judgement.” In England these were called “Doom” paintings and often adorned the west wall of the church. This is the door people would exit through after Mass and so the Doom painting would be the last thing they saw as they exited the church, a sobering reminder of the rewards and punishments that await everyone, depending on how they spend their lives.
Many of these paintings were destroyed or white-washed during the English reformation. But the white-wash had the unintended side effect of preserving the painting and many have now been rediscovered and restored.
One of the best and most complete paintings is in Salisbury at the Church of St. Thomas a Beckett. Rather than occupying the west wall, the painting in St. Thomas covers the chancel arch, the area over the altar. Instead of seeing the painting as parishioners leave the building, they would have it in view during the entire celebration of Mass. It amounted to a visual homily in an age when the local parson seldom, if ever, actually preached from the pulpit.
The wall painting dates from 1470 -1500 and it is interesting to compare how the subject was adapted later, during the Victorian Gothic-revival.
The Salisbury Doom follows the iconographic pattern common to the subject. In the center is Christ, seated in judgement. On the right side of Christ, His hand raised in blessing, (the left side as we view the painting,) is Heaven. On Christ’s left is Hell. The left hand of the Lord is usually pointing downward indicating that those who have rejected Him have consigned themselves to be eternally separated from Him.
Behind the Lord are angels holding the instruments of His Passion. Above them are the Sun of Justice on our left and the Star of the East on our right. At the feet of Christ are seated the twelve apostles. Also on the right hand of Christ is His mother, the Blessed Virgin, and on His left, John the beloved disciple.
In the lower part of the painting, on the left as we look at it, we see a garden which encloses a cemetery. The dead are rising from their graves as angels assist and accompany them. Other angels sound the trumpets of judgement.
The righteous are led to a castle. The walls and parapets of the castle are lined with angels and the souls of the saints, welcoming the new citizens of Heaven.
On the right is a very different scene. Flames are rising from the ground and the devil presides over the scene. The castle doors are shut tight and guarded by angels, preventing entry. A number of the damned are chained together and are led into the mouth of Hell and the infernal regions beyond. Hell, in the Gothic form is represented as the mouth of a monstrous gaping beast. The details of the land beyond are left to our imagination.
While this is the general form of the “Doom” or “Last Judgement,” the Salisbury painting offers a wealth of additional details. An ale-wife is shown embracing a demon with a jug in her hand. Interestingly, she is the only fully clothed figure among the damned. Ale-wives were brewers and have a long and fascinating history of their own. But to the medieval mind the brewers of alcohol were a symbol for the vices that plagued society.
Further down, a miser is also shown, moneybags in hand, being dragged downward by a demon. At the bottom of the scene is a scroll with the Latin inscription “Nulla est Redemptio”; there is no redemption for the wicked.
As a whole the right side of the painting is a reminder that rank and privilege will not be considered at the end of all things. All will be judged equally according to our sins. Kings and princes of the Church are among the damned, but there is also a figure with a bishop’s mitre among the saved.
“Doom” or “Last Judgement” paintings could typically include many other details. Saint Michael, for example, is often shown with a sword in one hand and a balance for weighing souls in the other. Personifications of the corporal works of mercy may also be shown, reminding us of the path of righteousness.
The Gothic Revival
How then was this image adapted in the Victorian era of the Gothic revival? We have noted before how the Gothic style, that is, the actual style of rendering, is based on the iconographic while the Baroque style owes more to classical Greek and Roman models.
The Gothic revival of the 19th century seems to take inspiration from both. Figures are shown much more naturalistically but still maintain a degree of stylization, particularly in the folds and draping of the garments.
Depictions of the Last Judgement in the neo-Gothic, are striking for what they leave out.
This is a stained glass window installed in the chancel of St. Michael and St. Mary Magdalene, Easthampstead, Berkshire. It was designed by Edward Burne-Jones.
We see Christ in the rose-window at the top surrounded by angels. The right hand of Christ is raised in blessing while His left indicates His wounds. The angels are dressed in red, perhaps as a nod to the blood of Christ.
Below Christ is Saint Michael the archangel, scales in hand. On either side of him sit the twelve apostles.
Below them three angels, flanked by angels blowing trumpets, read from the Book of Life which records our deeds, good and bad. Below them, the righteous rise from their graves.
What is missing is any explicit form of judgement. There are no devils, no Hell-mouth and apparently, no damned souls. The expressions and gestures of some of the angels could be seen as an implied horror at the fate of the wicked, but that fate is not imaged here.
So this revival of the Gothic form emphasizes salvation over damnation. This is the message that it was thought would resonate with Christians of the late 19th century. But what message would resonate with us today? Probably much the same. Disbelief in the devil and punishment for sin seems to be widespread. Souls condemned to Hell for wickedness is a “quaint old-fashioned belief”, dismissed by post-enlightened intellectuals.
I would offer that Hell should absolutely be shown in a last judgement painting but it could be shown differently than it was in the Medieval period. Instead of demons and hellfire, perhaps it would be more effective, and certainly more challenging for the artist, to show those consigned to Hell as miserable in their loneliness. They have cut themselves off from the love of God, from each other, from simple companionship. God no longer sees them, hears them, or answers their prayers. They have chosen an eternity of separation from the Divine… Hell indeed.
Pax vobiscum
