Last Judgment

A multi-tier and complex composition. Above, in the centre, is the half-figure of God the Father. Inside the circles are the heavenly forces. To the left is Jerusalem (paradise). To the right is Golgotha and the angels rolling up the scroll of heaven and dispersing the darkness away from Christ seated on the throne. Below are Christ, the apostles and angels administering justice. On either side of the throne stand the figures of the Mother of God, John the Baptist, Adam and Eve. Under the depiction of Christ is an altar with an open book containing the record of human deeds. Below the altar is a hand holding the scales. Peoples are moving towards the altar - the righteous and the sinners. Below, to the right, is a depiction of the fiery jaws of hell in which sits Satan with the soul of Judas. Emerging from hell is a snake with the ordeal rings through which the sinners must go. An angel is pushing a sinner to hell. Above hell is the earth giving away the dead. All of them, both the living and the dead, must stand the Justice of Heaven. In the center is a red circle with a depiction of the beasts symbolizing the perished kingdoms: Babylon, Macedonia, Persia, Rome. To the left are the gates of paradise to which the righteous walk and fly. Above the gates, in a circle, is paradise with the Mother of God, angels and John the Baptist therein.

Inv. NO 12874. © The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

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