Doom Paintings: for most of us, the end of the world is a fantasy

September 4, 2018 12:19 PM

A "dooms day painting" or "doom painting" is a term for an image of the Last Judgment in Christian eschatology when Christ judges souls to send them to either Heaven or Hell. The largest remaining mural is in St. Thomas's Church in Salisbury, and they have a nice guide to the images. Then there's the Church of St James the Great, South Leigh, and "The Doom" in the Guild Chapel, Stratford upon Avon was recently restored and digitally revitalized, allowing for a better look at the mural. There are numerous churches with notable "Dooms", though many are faded or barely present. These are the last hold-outs from before the (English) Reformation, when images in church were frowned on.
posted by filthy light thief (13 comments total)

I've read that the most notable Doom is in Coventry, in Holy Trinity Church, but I didn't find any good images of the full mural, so I tucked the reference away in a comment here.

If you want to read a period text that inspired many of these murals, here's Prik of Conscience, "arguably the most popular English poem of the Middle Ages."

And if you want a little soundtrack of doom, I'm partial to Aftermath's Final Showdow EP (Bandcamp), four cuts of doom'n'bass from the Australian Bloody Fist label (previously).
posted by filthy light thief at 12:23 PM on September 4, 2018 [2 favorites]

I assume that for some reason the painting of the last judgement in the Sistene Chapel doesn't qualify somehow since otherwise it would surely be mentioned? It looks bigger than the supposedly largest remaining one, but it's obviously hard to judge size from a picture.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 1:14 PM on September 4, 2018 [1 favorite]

From the first paragraph of the first link:

The most famous of all doom paintings, The Last Judgment by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel, painted in 1537 to 1541, comes at the end of the tradition, and is unusually sited on the east wall behind the altar.
posted by saladin at 1:18 PM on September 4, 2018 [2 favorites]

There's a small and lovely city in southern France called Albi. Today it's mainly known for a museum devoted to Toulouse-Lautrec, but 800 years ago it was the center of the Cathar movement, which preached the corruption of the Roman church, the innate sinfulness of the visible world, and the equality of men and women. Pope Innocent III launched a no-shit official Crusade to destroy this heresy by the means of ruthless and massive slaughter, which was extremely effective. To celebrate their victory, the Church erected a colossal steampunk nightmare of a cathedral, still (by some measures) the largest brick building in the world. The entire surface surrounding the alter is covered by a massive mural depicting the torture of the damned in lurid Boschian detail. (The ascent of the righteous to Heaven is somewhat less emphasized.) The overall effect is awesome, in the original sense: "this is you," it says. "Don't try it again."
posted by theodolite at 1:40 PM on September 4, 2018 [9 favorites]

pupils learn to observe closely and make deductions based on period knowledge of this Age of Faith
pupils grasp reasons why doom paintings were produced

A nice lapis judgement billowed with fear of Ochre.
posted by clavdivs at 1:42 PM on September 4, 2018 [2 favorites]

Holy Trinity is quite spectacular - it largely survives as a result of sheer luck after the Coventry Blitz
posted by Middlemarch at 2:56 PM on September 4, 2018 [1 favorite]

There's also Blake's magnificent A Vision of the Last Judgement which falls into this category, though it was painted in 1808, well after The Reformation. The final painting itself was lost but several earlier version of it are still extant, most famously this one in watercolor is quite magnificent. Blake also described the painting in great detail in a letter he wrote to Ozias Humphrey. Unfortunately, I could not located a copy of that to link to here.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 7:56 PM on September 4, 2018 [2 favorites]

This is so completely my jam. My left forearm is tattooed with a medieval hellmouth image lifted from various church frescos. Thanks!
posted by deadbilly at 8:16 PM on September 4, 2018

Our local doom painting is only our local doom painting because a local pirate captured it at sea before it could be delivered from Bruges to Florence. And we're not giving it back.
posted by pracowity at 11:48 PM on September 4, 2018

I’ll never forget coming across the ancient Doom Mural at Chaldon entirely by chance. Wish I could find a better picture, as it repays close examination.
posted by Segundus at 12:26 AM on September 5, 2018

Right, Theodolite, I was about to post something about my City's cathedral, but you explained everything perfectly. The mural is actually quite impressive, but I'm still puzzled by the fact that someone decided to get rid of the Christ sitting in the middle during the 17th century, though. (I must add, that as a kid, I was also puzzled by the fact that most of the poor souls driven to their fate had - very slightly - protruding bellies, and attributed that to the fact that the artists of the dark ages didn't master the techniques of human body drawing as well as the illustrators of the super-hero comics I was reading then did).
posted by nicolin at 6:53 AM on September 5, 2018

I must add that it's pretty funny to read that the cathedral could be perceived as steampunkish and nightmarish. A low-angle shot doesn't really allow to appreciate the way the cathedral contributes to the cityscape.
posted by nicolin at 7:08 AM on September 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

filthy light thief:

If you want to read a period text that inspired many of these murals, here's Prik of Conscience, "arguably the most popular English poem of the Middle Ages."

Wikipedia:

Not to be confused with Ayenbite of Inwyt.

Me to Wiki:

ohyou.jpg

That link and associated matter are genuinely excellent though, cheers filthy light thief!
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 10:05 PM on September 5, 2018