Rocznik Historii Sztuki (21.1995)

PRZEDSTAWIENIA ODPOWIEDZIALNOŚCI INDYWIDUALNEJ NA SĄDZIE OSTATECZNYM

83

Język obrazowy tych gatunków sztuki nie służy wyobrażaniu trudnych problemów eschatologicznych również
w odniesieniu do jednostek. Problem przestał być inspiracją dla artystów. Dla przybliżenia tych prawd współ-
czesnemu człowiekowi można jedynie posługiwać się dziełami dawnymi, uzasadnione sąjednak wątpliwości
czy przekaz ten jest jeszcze przekonywający.

Puszczykowo 1992

REPRESENTATIONS OF THE CONCEPT OF INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY
AT THE LAST JUDGEMENT IN MEDIEVAL WESTERN ART

Summary

In the paintings depicting a vision of the end of humanity, first of ail the joyful vision of the return of Christ and the salvation
of those believing in him was presented. The best preserved examples of this are mosaics in the eastern part of the basilica of Saint
Prassede in Rome (817-824). The mosaics were created under the influence of the décorations of the rood screens arch which can
be found in the basilica of Saint Cosmae e Damiano next to the Roman Forum (Forum Romanum); the basilica having been erected
in two phases: (1) in the first half of the 6th century, and (2) at the end of the 7th century. In Rome the tradition of this thème
lasted very long. At the beginning of the 12th century, in the eastern part of the basilica of Saint Clémente, only the redeemed were
presented, though in a somewhat limited form, sińce it included only the motif of the salvational sacrifice of Christ and accentu-
ated the role of the Church in this process.

In the Latin West, images showing the good being separated from the wicked, and the résurrection of the dead by Christ
retuming from Heaven began to be presented in the 9th century. Sometimes thèse depictions were given some additional thèmes.
Scales, the symbol of justice, appeared in the 9th century in the hands of Christ the Judge, later in the hands of angels and, finally,
in the hands of Archangel Michael. Only one soul used to appear on the scales, this being the oldest pictorial allusion to the
individual judgement.

Норе of pardon and the mercy of Christ were depicted in the living Cross (the 1 lth century), the symbol of His renewed
sacrifice; in the 12th century, however, présentations of the eucharistie altar expressed the idea. In the 12th century, the depiction
of the saved and the condemned was made more defmite through pictorial représentations of the members of différent states and
Professional groups (e.g. Congues). At the beginning of the 13th century in Italy, présentations of the vision of the Last Judgement
were sometimes illustrated by séries of pictures of good deeds. In this way, the responsibility of the faithful and the possibility
of human influence on the final verdict were illustrated.

A further step in the évolution of the discussed présentation was a tendency to associate the vision of the Last Judgement
with some defmite individuals as, for example, with Constantine the Great - the painting in the oratory of Saint Quattro Coronati
in Rome (before 1246), using such a présentation as a votive painting - a defmite person - as in the church of Saint Zeno in
Verona, or painting such a picture in the niches of chapels above the sarcophagi.

A vision of individual reactions at the moment of the Last Judgement - embedded in the form of reliefs - was created by
Giovanno Pisano; the reliefs now decorate the pulpits in Siena, Pistoia and Piza. At the end of the 13th and the beginning of the
14th century, along with the progress of the doctrine about Purgatory and then in connection with The Divine Comedy by Dante,
there appeared the problem of individual judgement after death, i.е., the judgement over and individual's soul, as well as some
conceptions of the sanctified, immorlal body which the saved will be granted at the end of the temporal world. The sanctified body
came to signify eternal life. About the year 1300, in Naples, in the church of St. Maria Donnaregina, a fresco décoration was made.
The saved depicted in the fresco are wearing white robes. The saved and the angels presented on the façade of the cathedral in
Orvieto (the beginnings of the 14th century) are clad in similar robes. According to the beliefs of those times scarcely covered
nakedness used to conceptualize immortal entities. The human body came to signify man's individuality. Pope Benedict XII, in
his buli issued in 1336, finally declared that on the day of the Last Judgement human beings would become ultimately unified with
their bodies.

Giotto, in the chapel of Arena in Padova, presented the moment of résurrection of the dead, (they are returning from the dead
naked) and of others, their bodies being immortal, who are entering Heaven - as it is stated in the Letter to Thessalonians (I Thess,
4.16). Enrico Scrovegni, the founder of the building, was made by the artist one of the members of the group being admitted to
Haeven by the angels. The founder was still alive when that piece of art was created. The idea was then adopted and applied in
the paintings usually located in the niches next to the sarcophagi. In Santa Croce in Florence, Maso di Bianco depicted Bardi di
Verino, after his death, clad in his sanctified body and kneeling in front of Christ the Judge at the moment of the end of humanity.
His soul had already been unified with his flesh for eternity. Some paintings seemed to have come prior to God's decrees in
référence to some particular people.

Soûls in the Italian painting of that time were presented as naked bodies, but a little smaller; the frescoes in Campo Santo
in Piza (1336-1345) depicting the fight among the angels and the devils over human soûls may serve as a good example. The
naked, deprived of the sanctified immortal bodies, are always condemned in Hell. In the Italian wall painting of the 14th century,
they were differentiated either according to the Seven Deadly Sins, which they had committed or according to some catégories
described in the Divine Comedy by Dante.