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Revelations
Art of the Apocalypse
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A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW
EARTH
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And I saw a new
heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth
were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Revelation 21:1
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Heaven is both the place from which Christ passes judgment and the
place to which the saved, or elect, ascend. In the wing of a Last
Judgment triptych by Hieronymus Bosch, the approach to heaven looks
surprisingly like the tunnel of light described by so many of
today's chroniclers of "near-death" experiences.
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Hieronymus
Bosch
(1450-1516)
Paradise |
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Hieronymus
Bosch
(1450-1516)
Paradise
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Hans Memling
(1435-1494)
Last Judgment
Paradise
Triptych
(left wing,detail)
1467-1471
Muzeum Narodowe, Gdansk
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In other
images, the idea of ascending into heaven is represented more
literally. In Rogier van der Weyden's and Hans Memling's Last
Judgment altarpieces, angels help the elect climb
tentatively up the heavenly stairs—in contrast to the damned, who
tumble into hell with terrifying speed.
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Once in heaven, the saved can quench their thirst from the water of
life—often shown as beautiful fountains—and take sustenance from the
tree of life. These are consoling parallels to the forbidden tree of
knowledge in the Garden of Eden, with which mankind's troubles
began. Thus, Revelation offers a fitting and enticingly hopeful
conclusion to the Bible. The story that began with humanity's
expulsion from paradise ends with its ascent to a new heaven and a
new earth.
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Dirck Bouts
(1415-1475)
Paradise
1450
Musee des
Beaux-Arts, Lille |
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Luca Signorelli
(1450-1523)
The Last Judgment
The Elect
Fresco,
Orvieto |
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