The Last Judgment (Rogier van der Weyden)
The Last Judgment is a winged altar by the Dutch painter Rogier van der Weyden . The polyptych , consisting of a total of nine panels, was made around 1450 for the chapel in the hospital ward of the Hôtel-Dieu in Beaune , France and is 215 cm high. It is not signed; only later sources have Rogier van der Weyden unequivocally identified as the painter of the picture.
The pictures of the altar are painted in oil on oak and show a representation of the Last Judgment on the inside . When closed, Saints Sebastian and Antonius and the Annunciation can be seen as sculptures in grisaille , as well as the portraits of the donor couple. Today the altar is in a side room of the hospice. The theme of the altar comes from the Old and New Testament , in particular from the Gospel according to Matthew and the Apocalypse .
The everyday side
The representation of the Last Judgment was only on display on Sundays and public holidays. Everyday at the hour of mass, when the door between the chapel and the sickroom was open, the sick could only see the closed altar, the two wings of which are divided into six fields.
The angel and Mary
Remember about the two male saints, as a traditional prelude to the cycle of redemption, Mary and the angel of the Annunciation . These represent the coming of Christ, the Savior of sinful mankind, a moment when salvation comes into the world.
In the Old Testament, Mary reads the passage in the book of the prophet Isaiah which announces the virgin birth (Isa | 7, 14.15). There it says:
“ Behold, a virgin will conceive and bear a son, and will name his name Emanuel. He will eat butter and honey so that he will know how to distinguish good and bad ”
The Holy Spirit hovers over Mary in a stylized cloud . In the left corner is a vase with lilies . This is also a symbol of election in the biblical tradition . Among other things, the lily is mentioned in Solomon's Song of Songs : Like a lily among the thorns, so is my beloved among the girls ( Hld 2.0 EU ) and also in the prophetic book of Hosea in the Old Testament: I will be there for Israel like him Dew so that it blooms like a lily and takes root like Lebanon. ( Hos 14.6 EU )
The protective cartridge
The two lower images show the Roman soldier and Christian martyr Sebastian and the Christian Egyptian monk Antonius .
Saint Sebastian is naked and tied to a tree trunk and pierced by the arrows of his martyrdom. Along with Rochus von Montpellier , he was the most popular patron saint of all epidemic sufferers and especially those suffering from the plague.
At his side is Saint Anthony in a monk's robe with a bell in his right hand. In his left hand he holds the Cross of St. Anthony , which in the Revelation of John is also used as a tau cross to mark the believers who are to be redeemed (Apk 7, 2 ff; 9.4). In the lower corner of the depiction is a little pig that has been walking next to him on his depictions since the 12th century.
Antony was implored by those who fell ill with the Antony Fire, named after this saint , an extremely painful and toxic infection that could lead to death. In the Middle Ages, the disease was caused by the consumption of rye infected with ergot fungus ( Claviceps purpurea ) . They were referred to as Antonius fire or ignis sacer - "holy fire".
Above all, the Antoniter Order had made it its business to treat and care for those who were sick with the Antonius fire. In the 15th century, they maintained around 370 hospitals across Europe, in which around 4,000 patients were cared for.
Chancellor Rolin feared that there might be an overlap with these hospital facilities and for this reason asked Pope Nicholas V for consent to change the church patronage from St. Anthony to that of St. John the Baptist . Nicholas V accepted this change with a bull dated December 30, 1451. Since the picture still shows Antonius as patron, it can be assumed that it was created before this date.
The relics of St. Anthony ended up in the Dauphiné region of Burgundy in the 11th century .
The donors
The founders of the Hôtel-Dieu hospital and its altar, Chancellor Nicolas Rolin and his wife Guigone de Salins , can be seen on the two large exterior panels . Behind them are two angels floating with their coats of arms.
Rolin (* 1376 in Autun ; † 1462 in Autun) was one of the richest and most powerful men of his time. He is sometimes described by his contemporaries as a tough man who cares for his own benefit. He had served Duke Johann Ohnefurcht since 1408 , then his son Philip the Good, who knighted him in 1424 for his loyal service.
The holiday page
The winged altar was opened on Sundays and public holidays so that the sick could see the representation of the Last Judgment. The artist divided the picture into two levels, an earthly and a heavenly area.
The angel
Angels with instruments of torture float up from both sides next to Christ. The implements of the execution are carried by two angels: the cross and the lance, the scourge column, the nails with which Christ was nailed to the cross.
The instruments of torture are carried after Christ by the angels as a sign of victory. Through suffering and death, Christ conquered the world and death.
Christ
Jesus Christ is in the center of the altar and enthroned as the judge of the world on a rainbow. He is shown raised above and clearly stands out from other people shown. Christ is wrapped in a long purple robe. The wound is visible on the right side of his chest, as can be seen on the bare feet and the wounds of the crucifixion. His right hand, which touches the paradise side and a white lily, is raised, the left he stretches down in the direction of hell as a sign of disapproval. There is the double-edged blood-red sword. Next to him are banners with verses from the Gospel according to Matthew ( Mt 25,34.41 EU )
“ Then the king will say to those on his right hand: Come here, you blessed ones of my Father, inherit the kingdom that has been prepared for you from the beginning of the world! "
“ Then he will also say to those on the left: Get away from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire that is prepared for the devil and his angels! "
His feet rest on a ball that has been a symbol of the universe and creation and also a symbol for the whole, perfect and perfect since ancient times. Michael is under the ball.
Michael
Connected to the judge of the world by a vertical axis, the Archangel Michael is directly below him .
Accompanied by four trumpet-blowing judgment angels, he weighs the souls who, awakened by the sound of the trumpets, crawl out of their graves to face judgment. He is dressed like a deacon , with an alb , the deacon's stole running diagonally across his chest , and a heavy and magnificent choir cloak made of red gold brocade, which is closed with a fibula . The three passport of the fibula is a symbol of the Trinity , which in this way - unlike in the Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van Eyck - is only remembered indirectly. The blessing gesture of the judge shows the blessed the way to the gate of paradise, represented by a Gothic portal with porphyry columns and gilded tympanum , pinnacles , crabs and pinnacles, where they are received by the archangel Gabriel, the guardian of paradise. In contrast, the judge's gesture, underlined by the blood-red sword of judgment, shows the damned the way to hell, from whose wide-open black maw the flames blaze up.
The two side panels accompanying Michael the soul weigher are dominated by the figures of Mary and John the Baptist , both of whom are accompanied by a group of apostles and saints. In his depiction of the Last Judgment, Rogier uses the traditional Deesis , which has been customary for pictures of the Last Judgment , especially in Byzantine art, since the 11th century. At the judgment, Mary and John serve as advocates for those to be judged, as does the accompanying host of saints who, according to the religious ideas of the time, could serve as personal advocates for a Christian whose namesake they are.
The weighing of souls in the Last Judgment corresponds to the Egyptian weighing of hearts in the judgment of the dead. It is also known in the Old Testament ( Dan 5.27 EU ). In Christianity, the weighing of the soul is only present in the conception of the Last Judgment, in which people are judged by God. It is made in medieval representations by the Archangel Michael. In Egyptian and medieval images, subordinate elements of the balancing of the soul also faithfully correspond, not least the jaws of the monster as a symbol for hell. Just as the assessors in the Egyptian court were able to recruit themselves from the blessed dead, so the apostles also take part in the Last Judgment alongside “the throne of his glory” (Matt. 19, 28).
history
After the Hundred Years War, people in the Côte-d'Or region suffered from oppressive poverty. Many were threatened with starvation. In the small town of Beaune , almost three quarters of all residents were threatened by it, as the chaos of war had left them destitute. Trying to save her own soul, the Chancellor of the Burgundian Duke Philip the Good , Nicolas Rolin , decided, as an elderly man, to found a hospital under the good influence of his third wife, the pious wife Guigone de Salins.
The Burgundian court of its time was a center of art and culture. This bloom was made possible by the great wealth that flowed to the dukes from their inherited lands in Flanders . The wealth also aroused political ambitions. It was the goal of Philip the Good - who came directly from the French royal family - to create a new Kingdom of Burgundy between the Kingdom of France and the German Empire .
The generosity of Nicolas Rolin amazed those who knew his liking for wealth and Louis XI. noted:
“ The man who caused poverty so many people in his lifetime is guilty of leaving a refuge for them after his death. "
In 1443 the foundation stone was laid for the construction of the Hôtel-Dieu hospital in Beaune . The great hall for the poor with a chapel, in which the Last Judgment was located, is the largest hall for nursing the sick.
literature
- Lorene Campbell: Van der Weyden . Chaucer Press, London 2004, ISBN 1-904449-24-7 .
- Albert Châtelet: Rogier van der Weyden. Roger de la Pasture . Gallimard, Paris 1999, ISBN 2-07-011613-1 .
- Odile Delenda: Rogier van der Weyden. The master's complete works. Belser, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-7630-2346-1 .
- Dirk DeVos: Rogier van der Weyden. The complete works . Abrams, New York 1999, ISBN 0-8109-6390-6 .
- Stephen Kemperdick: Rogier van der Weyden . Könemann, Cologne 2000, ISBN 3-8290-2569-6 .
