THE LAST JUDGMENT COMPOSITION

The northern wall is almost occupied by the monumental composition of the Last Judgment. The Almighty, the Judge, is portrayed in the centre, sitting solemnly on a rainbow in the halo of the heavenly glory. On either side of Christ, there are the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist, representing the New and the Old Testament, who are supplicating on behalf of the souls being judged.

Behind them, we can see the apostles – Disciples of Christ, sitting on the thrones with Gospels in their hands. The assembly of angels is depicted behind the apostles. Above them, in the lunette over the window, one can see images of angels rolling up the scroll of heaven, which symbolizes the End of Days. The depictions of the Trinity of the New Testament in the heavenly spheres and the episode of God the Father blessing God the Son and sending Him down to the earth are shown next to the window. The Hand of the Lord holding the holy souls and the scales where the human’s deeds are weighted is illustrated beneath the halo of Christ the Judge.

The centre of the composition represents the Prepared Throne with the symbols of the Passion – the Cross, the spear with the sponge soaked in vinegar, and the purple – the robe of the mocking of Christ. The serpent with the circles of severe trials of souls proceeds from Adam's foot, symbolizing human sins. To the viewer’s left there are the righteous, going for the justice of Heaven; and to the right one can see sinners, among which are heretics in European clothes with round collars and the Moors. The lower tier on the left illustrates the heaven and the holy souls in coloured houses and the Mother of God in glory. On the right side, there are sinners, awaited by Gehenna and Satan himself, sitting on the hell beast and holding Judas on his knees. Above them, one can see symbols of once-great but fall for the sins kingdoms in the images of four beasts, which was inspired by the prophecy of Daniel. In the centre, above the church exit, there are angels holding lances and casting down sinners to hell, where eternal punishment is expected – which is depicted in the circles to the right.