Title
Compare and Contrast
Question
Describe the Egyptian papyrus painting popularly referred to as the Last Judgment or Final Judgment with that of the sculpture Last Judgment by Giselbertus. How do the two compare with the Last Judgment by Michelangelo Buonarroti?
Part I
Summery
By researching this project I learned what each artist’s idea of god’s judgment looked like.
Reason
The reason for this question is to show the differences and or similairaties of these pieces of art.
Purpose
I picked this question because I did not know anything about the three art works.
Direction
This question will give show me the things that changed and the things
Impression
I thought this topic was really interesting. I liked looking at the little details each of these art works. I think it would have taken me months to write everything that I wanted to on these three things.
Part II
Answer
During the 19th dynasty of ancient Egypt, it was common for families to write and draw illustrations on papyrus, roll them up, and put them within the wrappings of dead family members. Collectors of early Egyptian artifacts called these scrolls, “Books of the dead.” (Art History, Stockstad and Cothren, Volume 1, P.77) One of the most famous of these scrolls is called, “The Final Judgment. “ This illustration tells the story of a man going through the three stages of the afterlife. The Painting shows the god of the Anubis, (the god with the jackal head) leading a man named Hunefer through the three stages of the afterlife, (Art History, Stockstad and Cothren, Volume 1, 77). The first stage, Hunefer is questioned about how he lived his life. After the interrogation, Hunefer is guided by the god of the dead Anubis, to have his heart weighed against the “Feather of Truth”. The feather and heart are weighed by Ma’at who is the goddess of justice. Beside Ma’at is Ammit. Ammit is a half crocodile half hippo who eagerly awaits the Ibis headed god Thoth to announce the results of the weighing, (Art History, Stockstad and Cothren, Volume 1, P.76). If the person does not pass the test of the heart weighing, Ammit devours the heart and thus devours the person’s soul. But in this painting Hunefer’s heart weighs true and he proceeds to be taken to Horus who presents him to the god Osiris who is floating on the lake of natron with the goddesses Nephthys and Isis holding Osiris’s left arm. (Art History, Stockstad and Cothren, Volume 1, P.78) In front of Orsiris are Horus’s four sons who each hold one of Hunefer’s vital organs.
The Last Judgment Tympanum at Autun is a sculpture located on the main portal of the cathedral Saint Lazare. The sculpture depicts Christ coming back to earth at the end of time. The Book, Art History, Stockstad and Cothren, Volume 1, describes it as follows
“This is the last judgment, in which Christ - enclosed in a mandorla (an almond shaped aureole that surrounds Christ) held up by two svelte angels-has returned at the end of time to judge the cowering naked humans whose bodies rise from there sarcophagi along the lintel of his feet.” (Art History, Stockstad and Cothren, Volume 1, P.78)
Also, there is a big difference between what the people on the right of Christ are doing compared to the ones on the left. The people on the left side of Christ appear to be the sinners, getting taken away by the devil, which emerges from some kind of side door, and snatches people away. The people on Christ’s right side are being directed to heaven with the help of angles. Also to Christ’s direct right, is Mary and directly above her is Peter. After seeing and reading how the sinners were on the left side and the faithful were to the right of Christ, immediately made me think of how being left handed used to be the sign of the devil.
Both these version’s main theme is based on how the almighty judges us mere mortals after death.
Michael Angelo’s Last judgment is also a painting based on how god will come to judge us in the end of days. What makes Michael Angelo’s different from the other two is that his seems to show the last judgment as complete chaos. People are falling of clouds, everybody’s body language shows absolute fear or confusion, and even Jesus (Which I’m assuming is the guy in the middle) looks kind of flustered. This picture is a lot more chaotic than the previous two and in my opinion would be the more accurate depiction of the way people would act when god came back.
At first glance these three artworks would seem to be telling the same thing, which is how god judges the dead. But after looking more closely at each one I see how different all three are. The Egyptian version tells me that the process in which god judges me will be very bureaucratic, almost like going through a job hiring process. The last Judgment of Tympanum is not as orderly as the book of the dead but is still shows a “process” of how we will be judged. Tympanum is like the DMV, it is somewhat ordered but you still are not totally sure what’s going on. Michael Angelo’s version looks like one big gaggle f. You don’t know what’s going on accept that it is probably a good idea to stay away from the guy who is holding on to someone’s skin.
