In Christian eschatology, the Last Judgment is the ethical-judicial trial, judgment, and punishment/reward of individual humans (assignment to heaven or to hell) by a divine tribunal at the end of time, following the destruction of humans' present earthly existence. This eschatology has spawned numerous artistic depictions. The Sistine Chapel (Italian: Cappella Sistina) is a chapel in the Palace of the Vatican, the official residence of the Roman Catholic Pope in the Vatican City. ... This page is about the artist. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... A judgment or judgement, in a legal context, is synonymous with the formal decision made by a court following legal proceedings. ... In metaphysics and statistics, the word individual, while sometimes meaning a person, more typically describes any numerically singular thing. ... The heavens are the sky, the celestial sphere, or outer space. ... Medieval illustration of the Mouth of Hell Hell is, according to many beliefs, a place or a state of painful suffering. ... Albrecht Dürer - Four horsemen of the Apocalypse This article is about the concept of the end of the world. ...

Sources

The doctrine and iconographic features of a "Last Judgment" are drawn from many passages from the apocalyptic books of the Bible. It appears most directly in the Apocalyptic sections of the Book of Matthew: Apocalyptic literature was a new genre of prophetical writing that developed in post-Exilic Jewish culture and was popular among millennialist early Christians. ... The Gospel of Matthew is one of the four Gospels of the New Testament. ...

When the Source of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world...Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels...And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. (Matt 25:31-34, 41, 46)

The doctrine is further supported by passages in Daniel, Isaiah and the Revelation of Saint John the Divine: This article is about the Biblical book. ... Isaiah (Hebrew ישׁעיהו Yeshayahu or Yəša‘ăyāhû) is a book of the Jewish Hebrew Bible as well as the Christian Old Testament, containing prophecies attributed to Isaiah. ... The Revelation of St. ...

And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. (Rev 20:11-12)

Adherents of millennialism, mostly Protestant Christians, regard the two passages as describing separate events: the "sheep and goats" judgment will determine the final status of those persons alive at the end of the Tribulation, and the "great white throne" judgment will be the final condemnation of the unrighteous dead at the end of all time, after the end of the world and before the beginning of the eternal period described in the final two chapters of Revelation. Millennialism (or chiliasm), from millennium, which literally means thousand years, is primarily a belief expressed in some Christian denominations, and literature, that there will be a Golden Age or Paradise on Earth where Christ will reign prior to the final judgment and future eternal state, primarily derived from the book... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... In Christian eschatology, the Tribulation (also called the Great Tribulation) is a relatively short period of time where believers will experience worldwide persecution and be purified and strengthened by it. ... Many religious faiths teach that the end of the world will occur at some point in the future. ...

Artistic Representations

In art, the Last Judgment is a common theme in medieval and renaissance religious iconography. Like most early iconographic innovations, its origins stem from Byzantium. In Western Christianity, it is often the subject depicted on the central tympanum of medieval cathedrals and churches, or as the central section of a triptych, flanked by depictions of heaven and hell to the left and right, respectively (heaven being to the viewer's left, but to the Christ figure's right). This page is about the artist. ... Byzantium was the original name of the modern city of Istanbul. ... Tympanum may mean: The eardrum; or A sculpted panel that stands within the recessed area formed by a larger arch above the doors to a church or similar building, especially in Romanesque and Gothic architecture; or A single drum in the orchestral percussion section usually called timpani. ... A triptych by Giovanni del Biondo, 1370 A triptych (from the Greek tri- three + ptychē fold) is a painting which is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together to form a complete artwork. ... The heavens are the sky, the celestial sphere, or outer space. ... Medieval illustration of the Mouth of Hell Hell is, according to many beliefs, a place or a state of painful suffering. ...

The most famous Renaissance depiction is Michelangelo Buonarroti's "The Last Judgement" in the Sistine Chapel. Included in this is his self portrait, as St. Bartholomew's flayed skin. Michelangelo (full name Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni) (March 6, 1475 - February 18, 1564) was a Renaissance sculptor, architect, painter, and poet. ... The Sistine Chapel (Italian: Cappella Sistina) is a chapel in the Palace of the Vatican, the official residence of the Roman Catholic Pope in the Vatican City. ... Michelangelos The Last Judgement shows Saint Bartholomew holding the knife of his martyrdom and his flayed skin. ... Michelangelos Last Judgment - Saint Bartholomew holding the knife of his martyrdom and his flayed skin Flaying is the removal of skin from the body. ...

See Also

• Armageddon
• Qiyamah Muslim view
• Apocalypse
• End of the World
• End Times
• Eschatology