Description
The Last Judgment occupies the west wall of the Scrovegni Chapel and forms the great visual and theological conclusion to the decorative programme. Unlike the smaller narrative scenes running along the lateral walls, this composition expands to monumental scale and gathers the final destiny of humankind into a single image. Christ appears at the center as supreme judge within a radiant mandorla, while apostles, angels, the saved and the damned are distributed across clearly differentiated zones.
Christ dominates the composition through scale, position and color. Seated frontally, he opens his arms in a gesture that symbolically separates the elect from the condemned. The twelve apostles sit on either side as a celestial tribunal. On the opposite side the damned are driven into a chaotic hell of demons, fire and physical torment.
