"Christian Geography" - Christ

...First, the fear of the end of the world was symbolized by the figure of a stern god sitting on a throne surrounded by the four living creatures (a lion, a bull, a man, and an eagle) and 24 elders from Chapter 4 of the Book of Revelation, as the judge of the "last day" (see, for example, the mosaic in the church of San Paolo fuori le mura in Rome). This continued throughout the Middle Ages, but there were many examples of this style in the Romanesque period, producing some excellent large-scale compositions (see the sculpture at Moissac in France, early 12th century). Other allegorical examples include the Shepherd Dividing the Sheep and the Goats from the Left and Right, from Matthew 25:32-33 (a mosaic in the Church of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, 6th century), and the Wise and Foolish Virgins (a manuscript painting from the Rossano Gospels, 6th century), which was often featured in Western Europe in association with the Judgment scene. However, a painting in Cosmas Indicopleustes' Topographies (manuscript in the Vatican) suggests that attempts to directly depict the Last Judgment were already being made in the East at this time. The composition is simple, with Christ on the top level, angels on the next level, apostles on the third level, and tiny resurrected people (only the heads) on the lowest level, arranged in a tiered style.

*Some of the terminology explanations that refer to "Christian Geography" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…まず，世界の終末の恐怖は，《ヨハネの黙示録》4章による獅子･牛･人･鷲の四つの生物および24人の長老たちに取りかこまれ，御座（みくら）に座すきびしい神の姿(ローマ，サン･パオロ･フオリ･レ･ムーラ教会のモザイクなど)に〈最後の日〉の審判者を象徴させ，その後，中世を通じて行われるが，ことにロマネスク時代にその作例は多く，すぐれた大構図を生んでいる(フランス，モアサックの彫刻，12世紀初め)。また，寓意的作例としては，《マタイによる福音書》25章32～33節の〈羊飼い，羊とヤギとを左右にわかつ〉図(ラベンナ，サンタポリナーレ･ヌオボ教会の一モザイク，6世紀)があり，後に西ヨーロッパで〈審判図〉に伴ってしばしば取り上げられる〈賢き処女と愚かな処女〉(《ロッサーノ福音書》の写本画，6世紀)があるが，しかし，この時代，すでに直接にこの主題を取り扱った〈最後の審判〉図の試みが東方で行われていたことは，コスマス･インディコプレウステスの《キリスト教地誌》(バチカン所蔵写本)の中の一図によってうかがいうる。簡単な構図で，最上段にキリスト，次段に天使群，第3段に使徒群，最下段には小さくよみがえった人々(頭部のみ)が階段式に配列されている。…

※「《キリスト教地誌》」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

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