The Last Judgement | MSK Gent
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The Last Judgement, ca. 1588 - ca. 1589

  • oil paint, panel
  • 298 x 363 cm
  • Inv. S-54

Public Domain

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In 1588 the Magistrature of Ghent commissioned Rafaël Coxie to paint The Last Judgement for the aldermen’s courtroom at the town hall in Ghent. It was meant to replace The Last Judgement by Cornelis van der Goes, a late fifteenth-century work that had been lost during the iconoclasm. In this aldermen’s court, where sentences were passed, it was traditional to hang up scenes of justice. These would remind the judges and the accused of God’s last judgement. Coxie’s portrayal is fairly traditional. Christ is seated on a cloud, surrounded by saints and angels; on the lower left the blessed kneel while on the right the damned are dragged into hell by satyrs and monsters. The life-size nudes at the bottom left of the panel are reminiscent of Michelangelo; the section set in heaven reminds us of Raphael. Rafaël was the son of Michael Coxie and was named after the Italian painter Raphael, whom Michael greatly admired. Father and son are exponents of the Italian trend in 16th-century Flemish painting.

Artist

Raphael Coxie RKD
Mechelen 1540 - Brussels 1616
painters (artists)AAT

Title The Last Judgement
Date ca. 1588 - ca. 1589
Period 16th century
Collection paintings AAT
Object type oil paintings (visual works) AAT
Inventory number S-54
Acquisition credit transfer
Stadhuis
Ghent
1825
Current whereabouts Work on display
Permalink https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/S-54
IIIF Manifest https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/6351/manifest.json
Art & Architecture Thesaurus 300055874 religious symbolism AAT
Keywords Iconclass 11D Christ Iconclass
11D3 Christ as adult Iconclass
11G angels Iconclass
11G21 angels singing, making music Iconclass
11H saints Iconclass
11HH female saints Iconclass
11I prophets, sibyls, evangelists, Doctors of the Church; persons ~ the Bible (not in biblical context) Iconclass
11I62(MOSES) Moses (not in biblical context); possible attributes: rays of light or horns on his head, rod, Tables of the Law Iconclass
11K devil(s) and demons Iconclass
11L211 the ten commandments represented together on stone tablets Iconclass
11Q751 (public) prayer Iconclass
11S11 heaven represented in the air, with clouds (in concentric circles) and light Iconclass
11T hell and purgatory Iconclass
11T2(+4) symbols of hell (+ devil(s)) Iconclass
11U Last Judgement Iconclass
11U1 Category 92880 Iconclass
11U21 resurrection of the dead ~ Last Judgement Iconclass
11U22 division of the blessed and the damned ~ Last Judgement Iconclass
11U3 symbols of Last Judgement Iconclass
26A clouds Iconclass
31A the (nude) human figure; 'Corpo humano' (Ripa) Iconclass
31A231 standing figure Iconclass
31A2321 leaning forward Iconclass
31A234 squatting, crouching figure Iconclass
31A242 head turned sideways Iconclass
31A2511 arm raised upward Iconclass
31A252 postures and gestures of arms and hands in relation to each other Iconclass
31A255 postures and gestures of hand and fingers Iconclass
31A2551 postures and gestures of the hand Iconclass
31A71 male sex; man Iconclass
31A72 female sex; woman Iconclass
31AA the (nude) human figure; 'Corpo humano' (Ripa) - AA - female human figure Iconclass
31AA2321 leaning forward - AA - female human figure Iconclass
31B62 morphology of facial expression Iconclass
31B6211 looking upwards Iconclass
31B6212 looking downwards Iconclass
31B6233 mouth wide open Iconclass
31D14 adult man Iconclass
31D15 adult woman Iconclass
44G law and jurisprudence Iconclass
44G(+53) law and jurisprudence (+ accusation) Iconclass
44G111 accusation (in court) Iconclass
44G112 judicial verdict Iconclass
44G121 court building Iconclass
44G13 magistracy, judges Iconclass
48C7352 horn, trumpet, cornet, trombone, tuba Iconclass
School / Style Renaissance AAT
Description des plus fameux tableaux que l'on trouve dans les Eglises et autres Édifices, dans la ville de Gand / Pierre François Antoine de Goesin-Verhaeghe. - A Gand : Chez Pierre de Goesin, 1771 (p. 1)
Notice des tableaux du musée de la ville de Gand, situé au local de l'académie royale de dessin, sculpture, architecture, etc. - Gand : D.J. Vanderhaeghen-Hulin, 1846 (nr. 23)
Recherches sur les peintres gantois, des XIVe et XVe siècles : Indices / Edmond De Busscher. - Gand : L. Hebbelynck, 1859 (pp.193-372)
Rechtsgeding over een kunstwerk in de XVIe eeuw / Edmond De Busscher. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (p. 208-221)
Recherches sur les peintres et sculpteurs à Gand, au XVIe, XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles / Edmond De Busscher. - Gand : E. De Busscher et Fils, 1866 (p. 7-10)
Recherches sur les peintres et sculpteurs à Gand, au XVIe, XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles / Edmond De Busscher. - Gand : E. De Busscher et Fils, 1866 (p. 1-2)
Le Jugement Dernier : tableau de R. van Coxcie / Prosper Claeys. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (p. 105-108)
Catalogue du musée de peinture de la ville de Gand, 1900 / Louis Maeterlinck. - Gand : Imprimerie Victor Van Doosselaere, 1900 (nr. 50)
Een onbekende opdracht aan R. van Coxcie / W.S. Unger. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (dl. XLV, p. 173)
Museum van Schoone Kunsten : Catalogus ; Oude Meesters, Schilderstukken, teekeningen, plaatsneden (met geschiedkundig overzicht) / Maurice Dupuis, Georges Charles Nicolas Marie Hulin de Loo, Fritz Van Loo. - Gent : Drukkerij F. De Vos, 1938 ; Gent : Stad Gent, 1938 (p. 40-41)
Gent / Jan Dhondt, Paul De Keyser. - Antwerpen : De Sikkel, 1947 (p. 295-296)
Art and architecture in Belgium : 1600 to 1800 / Horst Gerson, Englebert Hendrik Ter Kuile. - Harmondsworth : Penguin Books, 1960 (p. 48)
La peinture flamande au siècle de Bosch et Breughel / Léo Van Puyvelde. - Paris : Elsevier, 1962 (p. 417)
The Rafaël Coxie / Willy Laureyssens. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (p. 12)
De Vijd-Borlut fundatie en het Lam Gods retabel 1432-1797 / Elisabeth Dhanens. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (nr. 2, p. 20)
Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent / Robert Hoozee. - Brussel : Ministerie van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap, 1988 (p. 27, 29)
Gerechtigheidstaferelen voor schepenhuizen in de Zuidelijke Nederlanden in de 14de, 15de en 16de eeuw / Juliaan H.A. De Ridder. - Brussel : Paleis der Academiën, 1989 (jg. 51, nr. 45, p. 114-119, nr. 22)
Een verrijzenis van Raphaël van Coxie / Rudy Van Elslande. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (p. 119-133)
Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent = Museum of Fine Arts Ghent / Claudie De Guillebon, Jacques Ostier, Robert Hoozee, Monique Tahon-Vanroose. - Parijs : Association des Amis de "Musées 2000", 1989 (p. 63 (ill. 106))
Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart / Ulrich Thieme, Felix Becker. - Leipzig : Verlag von Wilhelm Engelmann, 1907-1950 (dl. 8, p. 25)
Het Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : een keuze uit de mooiste werken / Patrick De Rynck. - Gent : Ludion, 2007 (p. 26-27 (ill.))
Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : Catalogus schilderkunst ; Deel I: 14de - 18de eeuw ; Deel II: 19de - 20ste eeuw / Robert Hoozee, Johan De Smet, Bruno Fornari, Ruth Monteyne. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2007 (dl. I, p. 70-71 (ill.))
De Vlaamse schilderkunst ten tijde van Bosch en Breughel / Léo Van Puyvelde. - Hasselt : Heideland-Orbis, 1977
Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : De collectie (tentoonstelling vanaf 21 maart 2021) / Johan De Smet, Bart Ooghe, Frederica Van Dam, Lieven Van Den Abeele, Cathérine Verleysen. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2021
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Gand : La Collection (exposition dès le 21 mars 2021) / Johan De Smet, Bart Ooghe, Frederica Van Dam, Lieven Van Den Abeele, Cathérine Verleysen. - Gand : Musée des Beaux-Arts de Gand, 2021
Catalogue d'une nombreuse et riche collection de tableaux & estampes des meilleurs maîtres flamands, italiens et autres qui se vendront publiquement ... à Bruxelles, à Anvers & à Gand ... : Catalogue des tableaux qui ont appartenu aux collèges des ci-devant Jésuites de Gand, Ipres, Courtray, Tournay & Bruges ; Ces tableaux sont déposés à Gand (+ Appendice) (vente Gand, Bruxelles, Anvers, 05 - 20.05.1777). - s.l. : s.n., 1777
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