The central figure is the only one emerging from a grave. His tonsure indicates he’s a member of the clergy. The central figure with his back to us is blue or gray, the same color as the angel’s cloud. Rather than several animated figures looking up at the angel in fear or amazement, the Tarot de Marseille shows three figures in static poses, one of whom looks toward the angel. The center card was printed by Nicolas Conver of Marseille in 1809 or later using woodblocks created in 1760 and on the right is a Swiss Tarot de Marseille by Francois Gassmann, 1840. The card on the left was printed by Jean Payen of Avignon in 1743 using wood blocks that were created in 1639, making this one of the earliest known Tarot de Marseille decks. The cards shown above span more than 200 years, and illustrate the continuity of the Last Judgment tarot image across the centuries. On the far right, sinners are thrown into the flames of hell. On the far left (to the right of Jesus) an angel conducts the souls of the blessed through the gates of heaven. The panels on the far right and left show the result of Michael weighing the souls. Human souls ascend into the afterlife in a state of fear and agitation, since they don’t know what will be their fate after Michael’s judgment. Various apostles and saints take up the middle of the altarpiece in a horizontal band.Īcross the bottom of the painting, we see what happens immediately after the angel’s trumpet call in the Judgment card. In the adjacent panels, Michael is flanked by the Virgin Mary and Saint John, who hear prayers for mercy and intercede on behalf of the newly-arrived in the afterlife. Michael as a judge of souls is not in the Bible-rather it seems to have been invented by artists about the year 1100, and subsequently became an essential part of traditional Catholic belief. Below Jesus, the archangel Michael weighs souls in his scale to determine their fate. Four angels blow their trumpets to call people to the last judgment. Top center, Christ sits in glory on a rainbow, his feet resting on a globe to show he rules the world. The scene continues the action initiated in the Judgment card, and shows what happens after the people rise up to answer the angel’s call. This very large altarpiece by Rogier van der Weyden illustrates everything mentioned in the Bible, plus some images from popular Catholic belief. “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 before him will be gathered all the nations and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats: and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.” To those at his right hand he says “Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world”. “When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. Matthew Chapter 25:31-34 of the King James Bible says: In the Christian Bible it is found in all four gospels of the New Testament and particularly in the Gospel of Matthew. The concept of the Last Judgment exists in all main Western religions, including Judaism and Islam. It is this second judgment, linked to the return of Jesus Christ on Earth, that is represented in the Tarot cards. The rest of us spend the time before the last judgment, working off our sins in Purgatory. Saints and martyrs go straight to heaven for eternity, while heretics and unrepentant sinners go straight to Hell. According to medieval Catholic (and modern Orthodox) Church doctrine, we have a first judgment forty days after our physical death. The scene in the tarot Judgment card shows figures representing the human soul rising from graves, where their physical bodies have been buried. Since the card’s original name was “Angel”, this image is more aligned with the original intention of the card. The Budapest card in the center shows four very simplified figures emerging from their graves, perhaps wrapped in shrouds.Ī huge angel dominates the Rothschild engraving, which is a precursor to Bolognese style cards. The Rosenwald card on the left, with its minimalist style, has only two figures rising from their graves. These block printed decks have been simplified to contain one angel.
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