The Last Judgment, enormous independent single sheet illumination, on vellum [northern France (perhaps Normandy), c.1510-20]

a monumental illumination on a single sheet, 400mm. by 410mm., the Last Judgment, organized hieratically in three tiers with Christ sitting in judgement on a rainbow, surrounded by red cherubim and angels, one angel at Christ’s feet blowing a large horn, others holding objects related to Christ’s Passion, accompanied at either side by numerous saints, prophets and nobles including a king, a pope, a cardinal, bishops and a monk, below in the centre, a group of naked men and women kneeling in prayer, being led by angels either to heaven on the left or consigned to eternal punishment on the right, accompanied by banderoles to the left: “Venite benedicti patris mei possedere regnum” (Come, you blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom), to the right: “Ite maledicti in ignem eternum” (Go, cursed ones, into eternal fire) and below “Surgite mortui venite ad judicium” (Arise, dead one, and come to Judgement), at the bottom a scarce landscape with the dead rising from their graves assisted by angels, in the right corner a gaping hole in a rocky landscape where the dead are being thrust into it by a variety of fearsome green spotted devils, one at the top riding a damned soul and stabbing at him with a spear, another with an animal’s head with white fangs and horns and birdlike feet, others hauling more of the struggling bodies down toward Hell, in the lower corners red squares incorporating heraldic arms, to the left those of the Mesnage de Cagny family of Normandy (d’azur, au lion d’or au chef d’argent, chargés de trois coquilles de sable), to the right those of the de la Grange family of Berry (trois fer de faux d’argent sur azure), the scene enclosed within a border of coloured flowers and strawberries on a gold ground within a black frame, the illumination rubbed in places (especially in the upper tier, revealing some of the underdrawing), black inscriptions most probably re-written in the nineteenth century, mounted on card

The image of the Last Judgment with angels guiding good souls upwards to Heaven while others are dragged down into fiery Hell by terrifying demons was one of the most common in the Middle Ages. The literate encountered it daily in their Books of Hours, where it commonly opens the Seven Penetential Psalms or prayers addressed to Christ, and the rest of the populace encountered it in devotional objects made for public display, such as the present sheet.

Independent paintings on vellum or paper date from at least the thirteenth century and cover a wide range of formats and functions (see C. Reynolds in Illuminating the Renaissance, 2003, pp.24-31). Their fragility and exposure to the elements ensured that few examples survive, but enough remains to see that they reached their height of popularity and artistic achievement in the Burgundian Netherlands and northern France in the sixteenth century. In the Netherlands, Simon Bening seems to have been their major exponent and a handful of works in his style survive (see Illuminating the Renaissance, 2003, no.157), but in France, surviving examples are much rarer. A fine example by two illuminators of the French court of François I^er was sold in our rooms last year, 8 December 2013, lot 28. The present work is in a different format but of equally impressive size. The inclusion of the coats-of-arms suggests that the present illumination was a private commission, most probably to be placed at home or in a private chapel to aid the worshipper to seek grace.