Ways of Seeing Christ the Judge: The Iconography of Christ III and its Visual Context

Natalie Jones

doi:10.1007/s11061-021-09673-x

Abstract

This article examines the iconographic programme of the Last Judgement scene depicted in Christ III. A notable feature of the poem’s detailed visual programme is the way in which it provides the audience with a single, panoramic vision that encompasses the divergent perspectives of the blessed and the damned. It is on account of this dual perspective that the poem, through its precise use of language and imagery, presents the audience with a bifocal vision of Christ as King of Kings and Judge of the World, in keeping with the words of Revelation 19:16. A detailed analysis of the poem’s imagery, however, suggests that its portrait of Christ as Judge is not only informed by scripture and exegetical sources, but is also indebted to contemporary visual imagery, particularly the depiction of Christ as Majestas Domini, or Christ in Majesty. As a result, and by approaching the poem’s imagery from an iconological perspective, it is argued that the poet of Christ III had a detailed knowledge of contemporary Christological motifs. Furthermore, a careful analysis of the language used to describe the Judgement scene, and particularly the depiction of Christ as Judge, suggests that the poet intentionally seeks to evoke a range of specific visual images in the mind of his audience in order to amplify the poem’s instructive and penitential aims.

Highlights

Many Old English works explore the theme of the Last Judgement, the iconographic programme and the almost eidetic emphasis on the depiction of scriptural events so evident in Christ III make it a striking piece
In recent times the visual qualities of the poem have been more fully recognized and, in particular, much has been written on the emphasis on vision in the poem’s account of the Judgement scene; for example, Thomas Hill (1973), Sachi Shimomura (2002), and Timothy Arner and Paul Stegner (2007) have all noted the stress placed on ways of seeing in the poem and have commented at length on the distinctive perspectives of the blessed and the damned
While this emphasis on vision is certainly pivotal to the poem’s narrative, an analysis of its detailed iconographic programme reveals that the act of looking extends beyond the boundary of the text itself, as the audience is granted a panoramic vision which encompasses the blessed and the damned simultaneously

Summary

Introduction

Many Old English works explore the theme of the Last Judgement, the iconographic programme and the almost eidetic emphasis on the depiction of scriptural events so evident in Christ III make it a striking piece.

Results

Conclusion