South Leigh Medieval Doom Painting's Vision of the Last Judgement. Were they going to Heaven's gates of Hell's fires?
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This stunning Doom Painting was interpreted in different ways by people in medieval times compared to as it is today. Primarily, it states that there will be a time when everyone will come face to face with Jesus Christ and discover whether they will be condemned to hell or rest in blissful Heaven for eternity. Few people could read and so a painting was a simple way of conveying what the Bible said would happen. Furthermore, the Bible was in Latin and few people could understand Latin. People who had attempted to translate the Bible into English were seen as “heretics” and burnt at the stake! Unfortunately, many doom paintings got destroyed in the English Reformation courtesy of Henry VIII and his son Edward VI , an ardent Protestant. Those that we see today had been covered with whitewash and, sometime later, exposed by accident and then fully exposed. As a consequence, varying degrees of detail have disappeared. In the worse cases, it is very hard to recognise anything. Some, after being exposed in Victorian times, were then re-whitewashed! We are lucky to see the South Leigh doom painting with so much detail.
Why did people in Medieval times believe this ?
By nature, people are curious beings and always ask questions and demand answers. With science in its infancy, the Bible would provide them with answers and so they could happily sleep at night. Simply put, a doom painting would answer what would eventually happen to everyone when they die? It is a bit more complicated with the concept of “Purgatory”. This is where people are initially judged and, depending upon the amount of sin they have committed, go to purgatory until their sins are assuaged. Assuaging their sins could be a long and painful process. The final ever judgement is by Jesus who decides a person’s final destination.
Medieval people did not have long lives and probably wondered that there must be more to existence than the forty years, if that, on earth. A doom painting gives an answer here too.
Some people, no doubt, did not wholeheartedly believe what a doom painting was suggesting, but had no other explanation as to what would happen after death and “hedged their bets”, going along with this religious answer just in case it was correct.
Everybody had to go to church on a sunday and from an early age. As a child seeing this mural every Sunday, unquestioned or challenged, they probably developed a deep belief in the Last Judgement and this stayed with them throughout their adult life.
Above; the centre of the painting. Normally, Jesus is the central feature but not here. It may be that the scrolls were sufficient or, as a few people have suggested, Jesus was covered up when the roof was rebuilt and at a lower height. All doom paintings have Heaven on Jesus’ right and Hell on Jesus’ left. (the latin for the left hand is “a sinistra” from what we get sinister and often why children were scolded if they wrote with their left hand).
Above the “Saved” is the message, “Venite benedicti patris mei” which translated means, “Come ye blessed of my father”. Above the “lost” is the message, “Descedite maledicte” which means, Depart ye cursed.
Below the message are two trumpeting archangels who are wakening the dead to come out of their graves. The white one is awakening the saved so that can progress to Heaven whereas the brown one is awakening the “lost” who are destined to go to Hell for eternity.
Above; the dead are coming out of their graves responding to the archangel. Note that there is a queen and a bishop amongst them.
Above; the saved are being greeted by St Peter with the key to the gates of heaven. Behind them is heaven which is like a citadel, high enough and strong enough to keep out any sinners who might attempt to sneak in.
Above; The souls who are deemed to spend eternity in Hell aka the “lost”. They are all roped together so they cannot make a dash for freedom. The left hand two souls are a king and queen. At the other end is a bishop, known by his hat, the mitre. Above them all are souls rising from their graves and not looking very happy, especially the one in the middle. To the left of the souls, is a brown devil type creature who has a black rod to give them a prod.
Above; At the bottom is Hell. With flames at the bottom that never go out and monsters with teeth as well as three devils forcing the “lost” forward and one pulling the rope around them towards him.
Above; Next to the doom painting is a “Weighing of Souls” wall painting. Here, the Archangel, St Michael is weighing souls to judge who should be going to Hell and who should be saved. The one we see today is a larger copy of the original from the 15th century which apparently had a re-paint in 1872 according to Roger Rosewell’s comprehensive book “Medieval Wall Paintings”. A part of the original 14th century painting can be seen below number 3.
1 St Michael
2 The Virgin Mary
3 The original, smaller painting.
4 Mary’s hair hangs down which suggesting she is a virgin, supporting the concept of the “Virgin birth” etc.
5 Above 5 is the weighing pan for the saved/good side.
6 To ensure the person is saved and to counteract the evil actions of the devil, Mary has let her Rosary Beads drop onto the arm of the scales making the soul she wants to save heavier.
7 Below 7 there is a devil pulling down the damned/Hell side to make it seem heavier.
8 Hell
9 Another Devil with a “three pronged flesh hook” to push the damned souls into Hell.
10 A Devil is in the damned/Hell side to make it heavier to make certain the soul will go to Hell. This tells all the observers in the church that to get to Heaven is difficult because the Devil will intervene, thus giving the message that souls must be totally free of all sin.
11 Just above number 11 you can see the original painting’s scale handle and just above that, you might be able to make out the original St Michael’s hand.
Above; a closeup of number 10.
Above; A closeup of number 9.
Above; a closeup of number 7.
Above; In the left hand corner you can find this mural of St Clement. Like most saints he has a fascinating story to becoming a saint. For preaching in Rome, Emperor Trajan had him exiled to Crimea and forced to work in a mine or stone quarry, depending on which source is used. On seeing the poor health of his fellow miners and their desperate need of water, he knelt down and prayed. His prayer was answered when he looked up and saw a lamb on a hill marking a potential water source. Clement walked up to the place where the lamb had stood and struck at the ground with a heavy blow from his pick-axe! A spring now miraculously appeared from which all of his colleagues could drink fresh water . The result of this was numerous conversions to Christianity and Clement being sentenced to a horrible death. He was tied to an anchor (see the anchor on the bottom left of the mural) and thrown into the Black Sea. Legend has it that every year the sea ebbs in a particularly low tide to reveal his tomb built by angels on the sea bed. Unfortunately, two of the oldest sources on his life do not mention this story. The church guidebook quotes Anne Marshall, an expert on wall paintings who maintains that this is the only painting of St Clement in England although there was one recorded in Lingfield Surrey that has sadly disappeared.
Above; in the back left hand corner is one more mural but this one is hard to interpret. At the bottom is the mouth of Hell which is sending out flames. Experts suggest that above the flames is a many headed monster that has in its many mouths a human representing one of the “Seven Deadly Sins”.
Above; It might be easier to see the monsters heads with this rotated image.
Above; to find a “Green Man” as well as a doom painting was “the icing on the cake” for us.
Above; the beautiful Church of St James the Great, South Leigh, Oxfordshire.
Essential information.
Getting there. Please be advised by your Sat Nav. St James the Great Church, Church End, South Leigh, Witney OX29 6US
Parking. Just down from the church is the village hall for plenty of parking.
Opening times; Any reasonable time but on a Sunday there are services.
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