🌒 The Afterlife, I love a good Afterparty: Abbey of Sainte-Foy in Conques & Lincoln Cathedral
I can’t get enough of Hell. Particularly my latest love is the Romanesque Last Judgement tympanum (early 12th century) at the Abbey of Sainte-Foy in Conques. It came up as an example of apocalyptic art in my Animals & Monsters at the End of the World in Medieval Art course.
📸 by Daniel Villafruela Abbaye Ste Foy à Conques (06) - Tympan du Porche. (2021, February 19). Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. Retrieved 17:51, February 21, 2021
It never ceases to amaze me that people hundreds of years ago made these intricate scenes of the Last Judgement and how completely intriguing I find them. No matter how many Last Judgements I have seen, it seems Hell and its horror has been given much more thought as it displays the most action and enthusiasm compared to the depictions of Heaven. No matter how many saved people are standing around with all the angels, saints, prophets, no one looks ecstatic to be there with God, let alone happy. It’s mood is reserved and overall imho- kinda boring.
I was reminded of another Romanesque Hellscape scene from the 12th century, a frieze on the West front of the Lincoln Cathedral that previously held my attention for some time.
📸 Richard Nevell (WMUK) Carving on exterior of Lincoln Cathedral (1). (2020, September 28). Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. Retrieved 18:16, February 21, 2021. This is a replica of a 12th century original.
Location, Location, Location
We cannot forget that these carvings are deliberate in their placement and their messaging. They are purposely located on the greatest billboard in town - the West Front of the abbey/church/cathedral.
There is no way the laymen and laywomen entering the church could miss these carvings and no way the gruesome sight of Hell and eternal suffering wouldn’t leave them traumatized (let alone any Jews that might walk by). Sermons may do one thing, but harrowing scenes of Hell, that imagery, that my friends is what will scare the shit out of you and might convince you to follow the teachings of Jesus.
It’s true, I’m just fixating on the Hell part. But in reality, we’re talking about Heaven and Hell, as I’ve said, the iconography around the Kingdom of Heaven is just soooo under welcoming and everyone just stands around, there’s no great feast or party depicted where people and saints and God enjoy (after)life or do anything interesting at all.
I thought it might be fun to compare and contrast Conques and Lincoln’s Hells:
the torment and overall Hellscape feel and, last but not least,
So first, where did this notion of demons and devils come from and how should they look?
In doing my research for my short paper “Monstrous Motifs in Lincoln Cathedral Architecture,” I was surprised to learn that depictions of evil were not personified as demons in Christian art before the 9th century.
When they did surface in the *Carolingian manuscript, the Stuttgart Psalter, in around 830 AD, the personification of evil as demons was complete.
They were depicted as naked hybrid human-goat enities. They had some or all of the following characteristics: horns, claws, hair, hooves, tails and elongated ears. These physical characteristics were influenced by the demonization of the nature gods like Pan, known to be half-man, half-goat and the negative connotation of goats, which exist in Christian dogma around the Judgement, such as in The Parable of the Sheep and Goats (Matthew 25:31-46), goats over time came symbolize the Devil and his lesser demons.
Stuttgart Psalter cod. lat. 23, fol. 29v.
Stuttgart Psalter cod. lat. 23, fol. 10v
But these notions of beastly creatures don’t end here! The notions of beastly creatures may find their origin in the 2nd century Greek text, the Physiologus, which contained information on animal behaviors, their nature, habits and allegorical interpretation. The 2nd century didactic Christian Greek text, Physiologus, which contained information on animal behaviors, their nature, habits and allegorical interpretation.
According to Belita Goad, in her 2004 Masters thesis, Bestiary Influences upon Medieval Demonography, Physiologus is considered the predecessor of the medieval illuminated manuscript tradition of Bestiaries, which limned demons in the minds of medievals for the first time, producing,“some of the most enduring iconography of Christianity.”
Bestiary tradition and animal lore were well known in the minds of medieval people, their illustrations and stories resonated with an illiterate public. Their didactic and moralizing nature were especially useful in sermons as their stories conveyed the nature of certain animals to be virtuous or Christ-like while others were known to have been more maligned or demonic. These malevolent connotations informed demonic imagery - in merging different parts of malevolent animals, a recipe for the monstrous was concocted.
In the 6th century mosaic, The Sheep and the Goats, in Basilica di Sant'Apollinare in Classe, in Ravenna, Italy, Christ himself is depicted (not as a shepherd but in royal purple Roman robes), showing the separation of the sheep from the goats as a way to explain what Judgment will be like. With his right hand he signifies that the sheep are the Chosen and the goats can go to Hell! Is this the tamest of all Judgments??
The Sheep and The Goats Metropolitan Museum of Art , CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Both sites feature carvings of large eared (or horned?) humanish goat/ape hybrid demons demoning- doing their thing, poking, punishing, tormenting and torturing the damned souls in the same sort of vision of Hell. They also include demonized serpents aiding in the torment.
📸Abbey of Sainte-Foy in Conques - detail of Hell (2021, February 10). Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. Retrieved 18:09, February 21, 2021
📸Lincoln Cathedral, Torments of Hell. Irid Escent, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At Sainte-Foy, I believe one snake eminates from the Devil himself, whereas at Lincoln, snakes and a wyvern (the scene on the far left) assist demons in their torture, wrapping around the damned like ribbons of wrath, just a little extra pain and suffering beyond what the demons are doing. If we compare the two, Sainte-Foy’s Hell looks a bit more hellish compared to Lincoln’s Hell.
Sainte-Foy’s demons, equipped with instruments to prod or hang the damned appear more active, contorting in all kinds of positions to inflict maximum torture. Also, I ❤️ the Devil. Look at him (below) in Devil in Majesty - peering out to the audience, just like JC does. Nice touch.
Abbey of Sainte-Foy. Close up of Majesty positions in Hell and Heaven (original pictures have been cropped). 📸PMRMaeyaert, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Overall, Lincoln’s Hell appears much tamer and organized, but it isn’t a Last Judgment - its a selection of specific sins where each person/people are tortured based on their specific sin with a specific demon carrying out the act, plus snakes (because they are so evil).
Lincoln Cathedral - detail of restored Romanesque frieze (cropped for just scenes of sin) 📸 John Lord from Edinburgh, Scotland, CC BY 2.0
Hellmouths or jaws of Hell
This should be a future post unto itself!
Abbey of Sainte-Foy. Weighing of the souls, Gates of heaven and the Mouth of Hell (detail), Last Judgment tympanum, Church of Sainte‐Foy, France, Conques, c. 1050–1130, photo: Nick Thompson (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
The Hellmouth at Conques is a part of the composition of The Weighing of the Souls motif. Archangel Michael is bent over mirroring the hunched over, kneeling and grinning demon. The demon has very pronounced nose and long ears. As one would expect the demon has stuck out his index finger to tip the odds in Hell’s favor. How devilish!
Just below we see the entrances to Heaven and Hell. A demon at the rather tame Hellmouth that looks very Leviatan-ish /Whale of “Jonah and the Whale”is waiting to devour people head first. The demon is charge of pushing the damned face first into the Hellmouth has very exaggerated facial features and hair. It is looking backward at the line of souls waiting in front of St Peter (I presume) at the Gates of Heaven. This demon seems to have caught the eye of the fourth person in line to entering those pearly gates. What is the reasoning for this? Can Demons influence a soul that has already been judged saved but not yet in Heaven itself? You would expect that demon to be focusing on the using that bulbous ended rod in its hands to push the already bent over damned into the mouth of Hell.
The Hellmouth of The Harrowing of Hell scene also know as Anastasis (resurrection in Greek) is our comparable Hellmouth at Lincoln.
📸Irid Escent, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
So this takes place in the period of time between the Crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection. Another Jonah reference! Three days, three nights in the belly of the whale.. now son of man will copy him by going to the heart of the earth.... You know, nothing is original.
So here we have JC descending into Hell and releasing its captives. The Hellmouth is too tame for the opening of HELL, not even a single tooth portrayed. Even its eyes are absent of pupils or anything that would denote expression. I love the massive Jesus who is nonchalantly stepping on the torso of the Devil or a devil and reaching out like a politician does when walking through a crowd of supporters. The dead are like fish shooting upstream some to grab ahold to his hands, some praying fervently. All the dead have the same sort of expressionless zombie look about them - does not look like anyone was tormented at all....
Having looked at these 12th century Hell depictions, one in France and one in England, there are many similarities but also many differences. Mainly in the gruesomeness or restraint shown in the overall Hellscape. Sainte-Foy’s tympanum is much more elaborate as it displays a Last Judgment pictorial program. Lincoln’s frieze focuses on a few key scenes. I should note there is a Last Judgement portal at Lincoln (very subdued in its content) and was not known to me during the time of this post.
Some questions I am left with:
Are French depictions of Hell overall more gruesome than those of the English? Who’s are the most Hellish?
What’s up with the Carolingians and demons?
A dream of mine is to go on a Last Judgement tympanum pilgrimage and expand on this topic further. If you have a favorite, drop it in the comments!
