The Last Judgment

The Penitential Psalms, a compilation of seven psalms united by the common theme of repentance, are introduced by a most distinctive two-page opening in this Flemish book of hours: a full-page miniature of the Last Judgment paired with a smaller miniature of King David in prayer.

Christ sits on a double rainbow surrounded by Mary, Saint John the Baptist, a cardinal, a pope, two bishops, and a pair of trumpet blowing angels. Below, the twelve apostles look up while praying as the dead rise from their graves. The saved emerge from a tent in the border at the left, while the damned peer helplessly out of a tiny mouth of hell in the border at the right. The image of Christ seated in judgment provided a meditational focus for the recitation of the psalms, urging sinners to repent before death.