Tuesdays, April 18, 25 and May 2, 9, 16, and 23
6pm - 8pm EST
Admission: $170 / $150 (Patreon members)

PLEASE NOTE: All classes will also be recorded and archived for students who cannot make that time, but it is highly recommended you attend the classes live for the richest experience.

The Last Judgment is vividly described in the Book of Revelation; we’ll begin this course by studying this greatest of all Apocalyptic visions as recorded by St. John of Patmos. We’ll also consider extrabiblical sources from the Church Fathers and other important Christian voices, including those of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Kingdom of God will be fulfilled by His victory over a final unleashing of Evil, a cosmic upheaval which will cause His Bride, the Heavenly Jerusalem, to come down out of Heaven. A key feature of these End Times will be the Last Judgment, a time when all the Dead will be resurrected from their graves at Christ’s command, and He will separate the good from the evil, granting eternal life to the former and eternal punishment to the latter. At this time, all the mysteries of the universe will be resolved, and the wisdom of God’s divine plan will be made clear.

Artists throughout the Christian era have been fascinated and inspired by the Scriptural description of these events, and have endeavored to depict the chaos of the Last Days in glorious and terrifying paintings, prints, and sculptures. In the European Middle Ages and Early Renaissance, Last Judgment scenes reached a frenzied peak, becoming one of the most popular iconographic themes in art.

In this course, we will take a close look at the End Times as depicted in works of art both famous and obscure. Like today’s producers of Hollywood blockbusters, Medieval and Renaissance artists used every conceivable visual effect to create scenes in which the Son of Man appears in the sky, and, with the aid of St. Michael the Archangel, extracts dead bodies from their graves and weighs the souls of all people according to their acts. These scenes gave artists an opportunity to imagine and depict the glory of the Heavenly Jerusalem, a city made of crystal, precious metals and gemstones, as well as the fires and tortures of Hell, a horrifying pit, often with a monstrous mouth as its entrance, echoing with the screams of the suffering, whose punishments fit their crimes. Last Judgment scenes have much to teach us about the history and culture of the times and places in which they were created.

Each of the 6 weekly meetings will contain a vividly illustrated lecture on selected Last Judgment scenes, as well as suggested readings, homework prompts, and class discussions. The final project will invite you to compare two Last Judgment scenes of your choice. How do you explain their similarities and differences? What do they reveal about the mindsets of their respective cultures?

Topics covered will include:

• Apocalyptica: John of Patmos, The Book of Revelation, and its Commentaries

• Separating the Sheep from the Goats: Early Last Judgment Scenes (4^th through 8^th centuries)

• The Sum of our Fears: Last Judgments in Medieval Manuscripts, Sculptures, and Frescos

• Golden Age of Altarpieces: The Last Judgment in Northern Renaissance Art

• From Giotto to Michelangelo: The Last Judgment in Italian Renaissance Art and Beyond

• -Evolutions of the End Times: Last Judgments from the Baroque through Modern Eras

Brenda Edgar is an Art Historian in Louisville, KY. Her research interests include relics and reliquaries, medieval medical manuscripts and depictions of disease in medieval art, as well as the historical role of altered states of consciousness in the creation of art.

She is also a poet whose work has most recently appeared in the literary journals Better Than Starbucks and Rust + Moth; her poetry will also be featured in 2022 issues of The Blue Mountain Review, The Main Street Rag, and Crosswinds.

When she isn’t reading or writing, Brenda is a New York Times Crossword Puzzle addict and an avid yogi.

Her free monthly public talk series, “Art History Illustrated,” is presented at the Carnegie Center for Art and History in New Albany, Indiana.

1. Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Woman clothed with the Sun of Revelation, versus the Red Dragon

2. Last Judgement from Saint Apollinare Nuovoa in Ravenna, Italy

3. Last Judgement tympanum from the Cathedral of Autun

4. The Beaune Altarpiece by Rogier van der Weyden

5. Michelangelo’s Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel, Rome