Reflection corner
04/11/2024
The last Judgment
A reflection on the painting Last Judgment by Angelico – especially for November, when we remember all the saints and pray for the deceased.
Fra Angelico, Last Judgement, c. 1431, tempera on panel, 105 x 210 cm, Museo di San Marco, Florence.
The Last Judgment by the Renaissance artist Fra Angelico can be seen in the Convent San Marco in Florence. This painting is well-known especially for the part that sometimes we call the ‘Dance of the Saved’.
There are distinctive parts in the painting. In the top centre we recognise Christ surrounded by angels, Mary, John the Baptists and many saints.
On Christ’s right hand there is Paradise, and on the left-hand side, there is Hell. In the middle there are broken tombs: the dead have risen, it is the moment of judgment, some go to Heaven guided by angels, others go Hell driven by demons.
There would be a lot to say about this colourful painting. Today we invite you to pay attention to the relationships.
On the side of Saved it is all about communication and interaction. Some seem in conversation with an angel, probably their guardian angel as they seem to recognise each other. They embrace, they join hands and we almost hear some conversations… just like friends who meet again after a time of separation. The communion is such that all the encountering evolves in a dance that leads to Paradise. Beautiful hands, the light in the eyes, the colours of the clothes, the flowers … all contribute to a feeling of peace and harmony.
On the left side, it is another story! Everybody runs to save their own life but all of them will finish in the same obscure place… As they strive to escape from the demons, they cover their ears with their hands, and we can hear them screaming in fear and despair. There is no time to help one another and each one is dramatically isolated in the crowd. As they are forced into Hell they bite or eat their own hands. In Hell the damned are parked in some kinds of caves. Some are boiled up ready to be swallowed by a ferocious dark creature. Some have nothing to eat so they eat one another. Some have food but have no hands to help themselves and they cannot count on their neighbour to help them. Instead of the magnificent robes of the saved ones, the damned are naked and enslaved by snakes. Violence prevails: cries of lamentations, cold metallic screeching of the spears or bubbling of boiling water…
Well, I don't know what the damned people have done to deserve such treatment, but it made me think about how meaningful relationships change our lives and give us a sense of eternity.
shared by Sr Florence-Marie Le Garrec OSU