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work of the month

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“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away… And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works… And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

—(Revelation 20:11-15)

What do you see?

In keeping with the description of the Last Judgment in the New Testament book of Revelation, Jesus Christ sits upon a rainbow throne, his feet resting on an orb representing the world. Both of his hands are raised: the right in a gesture of blessing, the left in a sign of judgment. Representing Christ’s dual nature of savior and judge, a white lily flower (symbol of purity) extends from his right cheek, while from his left extends a double-edged sword. Underneath a heavy, rich red mantle joined at the throat with a gold and ruby clasp, the nude figure of Christ with its clearly visible wounds reminds us of his suffering for mankind. Trumpeting angels announce the import of the occasion. Below Christ, sleepy souls rise from their graves. While the viewer can predict their ultimate destination from the telltale skin tones – lighter for the Saved, darker for the Damned – many have fallen to their knees to beg for salvation. The central figure of Christ creates a vertical axis, in effect separating the painting into two distinct spheres: the bright, hopeful sphere of the Saved (left), and the dark, frightening turmoil of the Damned (right).

A tearful Mary kneels in a position of prayer to Christ’s right, presiding over the saved souls. She rests on a fluffy and undulating cotton-white cloud, which behind her morphs into a golden, glowing stairway to heaven. An archangel shepherds the Saved through the amorphous portal. Among their relieved ranks are a monk, king, pope, and other men and women – the closest couple probably identifiable as Adam and Eve.

To Christ’s left, an equally tearful St. John the Baptist, in his characteristic hair shirt, prays on a storm cloud in an attempt to intercede on behalf of mankind. Behind him, a gleeful demon roasts a damned soul over a pit of fire. An array of black, red, green, and gold demons – with multiple heads, extra limbs and eyes, curling tails, ferocious teeth, and scaly wings – torment the Damned, who are bound in chains and dragged to the gloomy pit of fire. They raise their hands to Christ, lamenting their fate and crying out in horror against it. As a warning to wayward clergymen of their fallibility, one particularly gruesome demon has seized the miter (crown) from an unsuspecting bishop. Directly below Christ, at the base of the painting, stands Satan – the marked, Red Dragon of Revelation – seen here in shiny, sensuous armor as he joyfully comes to collect the newest residents of his fiery realm.

Just as the recent turn of the new millennium sparked fears of the end of the world, so too did the turn of the half millennium in 1500. Artists painted detailed, horrifying scenes of the Last Judgment that foretold the fate of errant Christians and infidels.

Who was the artist of this work?

Little is known about Marx Reichlich. He was probably born in Neustift, a town in what is now the Austrian province of Tyrol, and completed his artistic training with Friedrich and Michael Pacher. His early works have been identified as those signed with the initials “M. R.,” which show characteristics of the Pachers’ style. His name first appears in records of Salzburg citizens in 1494, and it is believed that while there, he worked with the prolific Michael Pacher on the Perckhamer Altarpiece as well as the great altarpiece for the Franziskanerkirche.

His major projects included a panel for the Benediktinerstift in 1499; the restoration of frescoes in Schloss Runkelstein near Bozen, commissioned by Emperor Maximilian I in 1508; an altarpiece in Heiligenblut that was completed by Wolffgang Maller in 1520; approximately eight portraits (formerly attributed to the “Master of Angrer Portrait”); an altarpiece commissioned by Ritter Florian Waldauf von Waldenstein (c. 1510); two altarpieces produced for Neustift (Munich, Alte Pinakothek); and the Chrysler’s Last Judgment.

Reichlich’s style follows the late manner of Michael Pacher so closely that it has previously been difficult to attribute works to the former. Indeed, the Chrysler’s Last Judgment was thought for many years to be by either Pacher himself or a close follower. Both artists exhibit an affinity for portraying sculptural figures in dynamic architectural settings. Reichlich, however, favored a warmer and more modulated palette, with intensely rich clothing and strong contrasts of light and shadow.

While Reichlich worked at the same time as the Italian High Renaissance artists Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael, his work marks a transitional phase in the Northern Renaissance – falling between the stylized Early Northern Renaissance works of the generation of his master and the High Northern Renaissance masterpieces of Albrecht Dürer, Albrecht Altdorfer, and Lucas Cranach.

What effects did time and movement have on this work?

Over its five-hundred-year life, the Last Judgment showed the effects of continuous display, time, and displacement. The work was removed from view in April 1992 due to surface grime, significant warping, the presence of a split along the central join of the pine panels on which it is painted, and areas of insecure paint particularly in the lower right quarter. The project to restore the painting was funded by the Getty Grant Program and undertaken by conservators Dr. Hubert von Sonnenburg and George Bisacca at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The project included warp reversal treatments (a system of weight distribution, in a specially-constructed humidity chamber, lasting several months); rejoining the separated panel; consolidation of paint layers; removal of old, discolored varnish; filling and retouching of losses; revarnishing the picture surface; and reframing the panel. The work, now blazing with color and structurally sound, was returned to view in January 1997. Since the painting’s weight had to be supported from underneath, a shallow platform – indicative of its original function as an altarpiece – was constructed, upon which the Last Judgment now rests.

—Kristi McMillan

For Further Reading

Harrison, Jefferson C. “Northern Art: Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries,” The Chrysler Museum Gallery Guide (no. 11). Norfolk, VA: Chrysler Museum of Art, 1984.

Michael Pacher und sein Kreis, ex. cat. Neustift, Austria: Augustiner-Chorherrenstift Neustift, 1998.

Talbot, Charles. “Marx Reichlich,” in Dictionary of Art (v. 26). New York: Grove’s Dictionaries, Inc., 1996.