The Last Judgment (Santa Cecilia)

Pietro Cavallini (c. 1240–c. 1330) — c. 1293 · Fresco · Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, Rome

“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:” — Matthew 25:31 (KJV)

About

On the wall of Santa Cecilia in Rome, Pietro Cavallini painted about 1293 the upper world of the Last Judgment: Christ enthroned in a mandorla, apostles seated beside Him, angels in ranks — only fragments survive, rediscovered in 1901 behind a later choir.

The Meaning

Rome's painters re-learned grandeur from this work; Giotto himself may have studied it. Its meaning is its scale: judgment is not a corner of the faith but its ceiling — Christ central, the apostles enthroned, all history arranged beneath Him.

For Us Today

We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ (Romans 14:10). Even broken and half-lost, this fresco preaches the one meeting no man will miss — be ready for it today.

Image: Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons — the file’s page. Tap the picture to open the full-size original there.