The Last Judgment (Bamberg) Icon - F288

Then I saw a great white throne and the one who sat on it; the earth and the heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, as recorded in the books (Rev. 20:11-12).

Christ is seated on His throne in heaven holding a large cross. On each side four angels turn towards Him sounding their trumpets. Under the cross on the left and the right are two groups of six apostles on throne benches. Saint Peter has the position of honor on the right hand of Christ, and he presents the keys in the form of his monogram. Saint Paul is seated opposite him with a book. Two large angels stand at the foot of the throne, and display their banners with quotations from Christ's apocalyptic sermons.

The inscription on the left scroll reads, in Latin: Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you (Matthew 25:34); and on the right: Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire (Matthew 25:41).

Beneath them, the dead emerge from their tombs. Twelve of the blessed are approaching above the figure of Saint John. The young man at the front in secular dress is presented by a white-haired bishop. There is also a monk wearing a reddish-brown habit in the front row of the blessed. On the right the group of the damned is seen walking into hellfire with two demons. At the front, Satan is seated at the edge of hell with his hands and feet bound. A demon stands behind him, and has already placed a chain around the neck of a crowned ruler to pull him down into the pit. The king turns to a woman looking sorrowfully. These two figures are followed by a damned bishop turning back and gesturing in speech.

From the 11th century Bamberg Apocalypse.

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