Xoxoteco: the Last Judgment

In previous posts we have described some of the spectacular 16th century murals that adorn the chapel of Santa Maria Xoxoteco in northern Hidalgo state.We have also looked at various depictions of the Last Judgment, in paintings and murals elsewhere in Mexico. *

   The Last Judgment was often graphically portrayed, primarily as a means of impressing the native converts with the consequences of sin and the horrors of Hell—themes fully developed in the nave murals at Xoxoteco.

At Xoxoteco the panoramic Last Judgment scene itself dominates the rounded upper section of the apse. The outline of Christ in Judgment is discernible at the top, seated on a globe like throne, with a rainbow above and the books of judgment below.

He is flanked on the left by a rising, mostly naked group of saved souls, and on the right by a line of the Elect. 

The Elect

Below left, souls rise to Heaven accompanied by angels on the left, and on the right, the damned are flung by demons into the open Jaws of Leviathan, whose sharp teeth, upturned snout and wide eyes add to the drama.

   

In medieval times the entrance to Hell was often envisaged as the gaping mouth of a huge monster, and remained common in depictions of the Last Judgment and Harrowing of Hell until the Renaissance. The sea monster Leviathan, a monstrous animal whose mouth swallows the damned during the Last Judgment, was also conflated with this imagery.

text © 2017 Richard D. Perry

color images by the author and  courtesy of Niccolo Brooker and adapted from JB Artigas
*Please review other posts on the Last Judgment: El Llanito; Totimehuacan; Suchixtlahuaca; Huaquechula; Yanhuitlan; Ixmiquilpan;