The Coventry Doom Painting. One of the top doom paintings in Britain
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It is debatable which is the best doom painting in Britain but it is not debatable that the doom painting at Holy Trinity Church Coventry is one of the best. The Art Historian and documentary maker, Graham Andrew Dixon wrote on his website, “The picture must be counted one of the most important discoveries to have been made in the field of medieval art.” He adds, “it is a vigorously scary depiction of the moment when the Last Trump shall sound, painted in a crude but bold style and teeming with fascinating and unusual detail. It is hard to think of a more potent relic of English fifteenth-century dread.” There is an awful lot going on in this painting and I can imagine congregations looking up at it for the whole of the church service. Each doom painting is different in a variety of ways but the message is always the same, there will come a time when everyone will be judged.
During his reign the Protestant King Edward Vl demanded that all paintings had to be whitewashed over as part of the Reformation in England. Rood screens and statues all had to go, along with stained glass. Fortunately, many doom paintings were discovered in the Victorian period and restored. This one, in the Holy Trinity Church, was discovered in 1831 but began to disappear under dirt over the next seventy years. What you see today, is the result of very skilled cleaning done between 2002 and 2004. It survives due to the incredible bravery on the part of the Reverend Graham Clitheroe, his curate and one of his sons in the Second World War. On the evening of November 14th 1940, there was an eleven hour air raid on central Coventry which included the dropping of high explosive and incendiary bombs. Coventry Cathedral was destroyed along with numerous other buildings but Holy Trinity was saved thanks to their courage. That night they used fire hydrants to extinguish the fires around the church and even climbed to the roof of the church to push bombs off it! The church was saved and was to act as the Cathedral for the rest of the war.
What is a Doom painting and what was the point of a Doom painting?
Medieval churches were once full of colour with their walls covered with wall paintings. Few people could read in medieval times, the Bible was written in latin and so most people could only discover Christian teachings from what the priest said in a service. To re-enforce the word of God, doom paintings were created. Pope Gregory (540-604 AD) wrote, “A picture is displayed in churches in order that those who do not know letters may at least be ready seeing on the walls what they are unable to read in books”. Doom paintings focus on the last judgement when Jesus comes back to earth, trumpets sound to summons the souls of the dead to rise out of their graves and he decides whether they should go to heaven or hell! Heaven is always depicted as a beautiful and blissful, whereas Hell is shown as the place of one’s worst nightmares. The basic idea of such a painting was to guide Christians away from sin (wrongdoing). Doom paintings are not confined to English churches and can be found elsewhere in Europe, especially in Italy and Spain. . William of Malmesbury writing sometime between 1096 and 1143 wrote that a church was not considered complete until its walls glistened with colour.
Close-ups of the various sections of the paintings.
Jesus is always shown at the centre to make his judgements. Either side of him are his “Apostles” including St Paul but excluding Judas. He was the disciple who betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. He told men, who came to arrest Jesus, where they could find him and then identifying him from the others by giving him a kiss. Having been arrested, Jesus was tried and executed.
Here the arrows point at the stigmata ie the holes in his hands and feet where he was nailed to the cross. The round object between his feet is a representation of the earth. It is divided into three sections to represent earth, air and water.
Moving further to the left we can see souls of people below Jesus’s right foot who have been saved. Doom paintings like to emphasise equality in the eyes of Jesus and hence, the souls include a king, a queen, a cardinal (or sometimes a bishop) and ordinary people. We can see a similar mixed group over on Jesus’s left who are destined for Hell. In the centre of this photo is Jesus’s mother Mary who has bared her breast. She is looking at the sinners on the other side and the baring of her breast is showing she breast fed Jesus as a baby and she is now begging for Jesus to save them. She cared for him and she wants to care for them.
Still in the same area but moving closer in is St Peter’s key to the gates of Heaven. St Peter can be seen above the key in the previous photo. The book represents a book of evidence about each person and their sins. This suggests to the onlookers that there was no hiding sins and there would be evidence of their misdeeds.
Moving still further to the left, we can see in the top middle an angel blowing a horn to summons the dead to come out of their graves to be judged. Below the angel, are souls coming out of their graves. They are naked because Christians believe that they entered the world naked and will leave the world naked. At the top right is Heaven with St Peter welcoming them. Going up the stairs is a Pope leading the way. We can recognise the Pope from his papal tiara (hat) which has been replaced by a bishop’s mitre nowadays.
Moving to the right of Jesus, we can see more Apostles at the top. The first in line is St Paul. Experts know this because he usually shown with a sword, which, if you look carefully, is at his feet. This sword represents his beheading. Underneath St Paul’s sword, is another mixture of souls, who in this case have been condemned to Hell. Next to them, bending forwards, is a large John The Baptist, the man who baptised the baby Jesus. Like Mary, he too is asking Jesus to save the sinners.
In the far left of the painting we can see Hell and characters associated with it.
Shows three sinners tied up so they cannot escape on their way to Hell. Seeing this every Sunday, will imprint on people’s minds that there was no way of getting out of Hell for people who are gross sinners.
Here are three “alewives” who have sold ale which has been watered down, gone off/sour or sold in short measures. All three are carrying beer glasses that symbolise their trade. Of course, not all barmaids or bartenders were corrupt but they are used here as a generic image for wrong doers. Note, one is wearing the head-dress mentioned earlier.
A fourth “alewife” is shown riding on the back of a devil en route to Hell. If you look closely, you can see the devil’s head to the left of the “alewife”.
Not easy to spot but here is a devil who has turned someone upside down and is ramming the person into the mouth of Hell.
Hell. A mixture of souls can be seen in Hell with red stripes representing flames. In doom paintings, Hell is usually shown as the mouth of an evil monster.
Another scary devil carrying someone on his shoulders to hell. Perhaps the person had tried to escape and was captured. This reinforces the message that there is no escape if you are condemned to Hell.
Essential information.
Getting there.
Coventry is easy to get to with good rail and road connections. Holy Trinity Church is next to the Original Coventry Cathedral which is in the city centre. There are several carparks that can be accessed and use a Sat Nav to find them.
Entry fees. Entry is free but they do ask for a voluntary contribution to pay for the upkeep of the church.
It is open visitors from Wednesday to Saturday, 11.00am to 3.00pm, Sunday, 12.30pm until 4.30pm.
Places to visit nearby; Make a day of it and visit the Original Cathedral, the new Cathedral and the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, which is also free. At the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum you can also get a good cup of coffee and some excellent food. There is also the Coventry Blitz Museum which is located in the corner of the Cathedral ruins. It is open at week-ends, Saturdays 10am -4pm and Sundays 12pm - 3pm and also in the school holidays on weekdays 11.am -3pm.
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It is debatable which is the best doom painting in Britain but it is not debatable that the doom painting at Holy Trinity Church Coventry is one of the best. The Art Historian and documentary maker, Graham Andrew Dixon wrote on his website, “The picture must be counted one of the most important discoveries to have been made in the field of medieval art.” He adds, “it is a vigorously scary depiction of the moment when the Last Trump shall sound, painted in a crude but bold style and teeming with fascinating and unusual detail. It is hard to think of a more potent relic of English fifteenth-century dread.”