Old Masters · Matthew 25:31 · 5 October 2026 · 4 works

The Last Judgment

When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

For the last Sundays of the church year: four painters set out the Last Judgment.

Christ sits in a ring of angels above a row of opened graves that runs into the depth of the picture. On the left the blessed are led into a garden; on the right devils drive the damned into the pits of hell.

Fra Angelico, The Last Judgment, c. 1431 — **Fra Angelico**, The Last Judgment, c. 1431

Christ sits on a rainbow against a golden sky, a lily at one side of his head and a sword at the other. Beneath him the archangel Michael, all in white, weighs the souls. Small naked figures climb out of the earth and go to the left or to the right.

Rogier van der Weyden, The Last Judgment (Beaune Altarpiece), c. 1445–50 — **Rogier van der Weyden**, The Last Judgment (Beaune Altarpiece), c. 1445–50

In the central panel Michael stands in golden armour and weighs the risen; above him Christ sits on the rainbow among the apostles. On the left wing Peter receives the blessed at the stairs to the gate of heaven; the right wing is fire and falling bodies.

Hans Memling, The Last Judgment, c. 1467–71 — **Hans Memling**, The Last Judgment, c. 1467–71

A wall full of bodies, circling around a young, beardless Christ who raises his arm. On his right hand the dead rise from the ground and are pulled upward; on his left they are dragged down to a boat and a dark shore.

Michelangelo, The Last Judgment, 1536–41 — **Michelangelo**, The Last Judgment, 1536–41