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| Resurrection of the Dead from Book of Hours French (Rouen), 1450-1500 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Nouvelle acquisition latine 3134, fol. 67v |
Jesus said to the crowds:
“Everything that the Father gives me will come to me,
and I will not reject anyone who comes to me,
because I came down from heaven not to do my own will
but the will of the one who sent me.
And this is the will of the one who sent me,
that I should not lose anything of what he gave me,
but that I should raise it on the last day.
For this is the will of my Father,
that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him
may have eternal life,
and I shall raise him on the last day.”
“Everything that the Father gives me will come to me,
and I will not reject anyone who comes to me,
because I came down from heaven not to do my own will
but the will of the one who sent me.
And this is the will of the one who sent me,
that I should not lose anything of what he gave me,
but that I should raise it on the last day.
For this is the will of my Father,
that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him
may have eternal life,
and I shall raise him on the last day.”
John 6:37-40 (Gospel for the feast of All Souls)
This year we are in the somewhat unusual situation where Sunday
falls on November 2, the feast of All Souls, or as it is now called The Commemoration of All the Faithful
Departed. Consequently, the readings are
a reflection of the theme of the day, the eventual resurrection of all the
faithful departed at the end of time.
This is the opening scene of the Last Judgment, also called the Second
Coming of Christ, when Jesus will “come again to judge the living and the
dead”, as both the Apostles’ and the Nicene creeds tell us.
The Last Judgment is
one of the most often imagined scenes in the entire history of art. At one time nearly every church had a
rendition of it, either as a painting or as sculpture. The great cathedrals of medieval Europe, both
Romanesque and Gothic, usually included the scene in the tympanum of their
central portals. If it was not there, it
could be found elsewhere. Most parish
churches, no matter how modest, usually included the painted scene in their
interiors. Painters, both north and
south, included it among their works and some of the greatest artists are known
for their versions, among them Rogier van der Weyden and, of course,
Michelangelo.
But it is the detail
at the beginning, the subject of today’s Gospel, the raising of the dead that I
will be looking at here. How do these
artists imagine that event to be? In
what way do they see the dead coming back to life?
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| Resurrection of the Dead from Book of Pericopes of Henry II German (Reichenau), 1007-1012 Munich, Bayerisches Staatsbibliothek MS Clm 4452, fol. 201v |
The earliest image
that I have been able to find in a brief survey of resources comes from the
justly famous Book of Pericopes (readings for the Mass) painted at the
monastery of Reichenau for the Holy Roman Emperor Henry II in 1007-1008. The scene is fairly simply set. The angels blow their trumpets, while devils
spit and the dead arise from their graves.
Almost all the dead seem happy to be awakened, although one man, right
in the middle of the bottom half of the image, seems a bit confused by the event
and another seems to be making a sign of annoyance toward one of the angels.
But on the whole, the mood is a happy one.
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| Nicholas of Verdun, Resurrection of the Dead from Klosterneuburg Altarpiece Belgian, 1181 Klosterneuburg, Monastery Church |
One hundred and
eighty years later the mood seems to be similar in the plaque from the great
Klosterneuburg Altarpiece by Nicholas of Verdun. Some of the dead spring from their tombs, while others seem a bit dazed.
However, a more
somber mood had already begun to appear.
The Last Judgment scene had begun to appear as the primary decoration
over the entrance portals of the Romanesque cathedrals. The idea of a self-judgment by each of the dead begins to appear. Not all arise in the expectation of a heavenly destination.
At Autun Cathedral in the Burgundy region of
eastern France, one of the greatest of these cycles, by the sculptor
Gislebertus, was completed between 1130 and 1146. Gislebertus tells his story in almost comic
book fashion. His souls arise as already
marked by their eventual destination.
Those who are destined for Paradise arise with joy.
While those who are destined for Hell arise with fear.
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Gislebertus, Saved Souls Rising
French, 1130-1146
Autun, Cathedral
|
While those who are destined for Hell arise with fear.
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| Gislebertus, Damned Souls Rising French, 1130-1146 Autun, Cathedral |
As
they come to the moment of final judgment, the fear of the damned turns to horror as they are
dragged into the claws of the devils that transport them to Hell.
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| Gislebertus, The Damned French, 1130-1146 Autun, Cathedral |
Meanwhile the saved rejoice and cling to the
angels who have awakened them like small children clinging to their mothers.
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| Gislebertus, Saved Souls French, 1130-1146 Autun, Cathedral |
Still, the awakening
of the dead continued to be a source of rejoicing or at least a cause of hope
for most of the souls shown being raised in all the representations of the
event in all of medieval Europe. Most images of the raising of the dead present
the souls rising filled with hope and joy, marked by their gestures of prayer or rejoicing.
Those images in which the entire Last Judgment scene is shown reflect
the same division between hopeful saved and fear-filled damned as was seen in
the Romanesque Last Judgments.
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| Souls Rising from Last Judgment French, 1230 Reims, Cathedral |
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| Souls Rising from Last Judgment German (Saxon), ca. 1300 Zschella, Evangelical Church of the Trinity |
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| Giotto, Saints and Resurrection of the Dead from Last Judgment Italian, 1304-1306 Padua, Arena Chapel |
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| Master of the Parement de Narbonne, Resurrection of the Dead from Tres Belles Heures of Jean de Berry French (Paris), ca. 1380 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Nouvelle acquisition latine 3093, fol. 169 |
.jpg) |
| Resurrection of the Dead from Last Judgment German , 1401-1415 Herzberg, Church of St. Mary |
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| Lorenzo Monaco, Resurrection of the Dead from Antiphonary Italian, 1406 New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman Collection |
_1470-80_Morgan_M1001.109ra.jpg) |
| Robinet Testard, Resurrection of the Dead from Book of Hours French (Poitiers), 1470-1480 New York, Pierpont Morgan Library MS M1001, fol. 109r |
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| Master of the Orleans Triptych, Resurrection of the Dead French, ca. 1500 New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman Collection |
After the Black
Death ravaged the population of Europe in the fourteenth century images of
death became more macabre, making the images of the Last Judgment more
horrifying, at least for the damned.
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| Master of the Triumphs of Petrarch from Allegory of the Victory of Fame French (Rouen), 1503 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Francais 594, fol. 178v |
The saved still rise with hope and joy, but the damned begin to show more fear and horror.
We can see this in the scenes
from several famous works, by Rogier van der Weyden (and other northern artists
who followed him), Luca Signorelli and, of course, Michelangelo.
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| Rogier van der Weyden, Last Judgment Polyptych Netherlandish, 1446-1452 Beaune, Musee de l'Hotel Dieu |
_-_WGA25631.jpg) |
| Rogier van der Weyden, The Saved |
_-_WGA25642.jpg) |
| Rogier van der Weyden, The Damned |
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| Jan Prevost, Last Judgment Belgian, 1525 Bruges, Groeninge Museum |
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| Lucas van Leyden, Last Judgment Dutch, 1527 Leiden, Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal |
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| Luca Signorelli, Resurrection of the Dead Italian, 1499-1502 Orvieto, Chapel of San Brizio |
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| Michelangelo, Last Judgment Italian, 1437-1541 Vatican City, Sistine Chapel |
Michelangelo’s
vision of the Last Judgment became the paradigm followed by most subsequent
artists. The dead are seen to be heaving
themselves from the earth and violently expressing their hope or fear.
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| Jean Cousin, Last Judgment French, 1585 Paris, Musee du Louvre |
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| Hieronymous Francken, Last Judgment Flemish, 1605-1610 Salzburg, Residenzgalerie |
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| Frans Francken II, Last Judgment Flemish, 1608 Private Collection |
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| Rubens, Last Judgment Flemish, 1617 Munich, Alte Pinakothek |
The element of fear begins to become more
evident with each new image, until it begins to be the dominant emotion. The earlier calm and joyful rising no longer
held the imagination in the way that it once did.
However, the element of joy and peace returned with the Romantic era and was joined to the sentimental idea of reunion between lovers and families. This spirit continues into the current era.
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| Victor Mottez, Resurrection of the Dead French, 1870 Lille, Musee des Beaux-Arts |
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| Stanley Spencer, Resurrection, Cookham English, 1924-1927 London, Tate Gallery |
© M. Duffy, 2014
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