WEYDEN, Rogier van der
(b. 1400, Tournai, d. 1464, Bruxelles)

The Last Judgment (detail)

1446-52
Oil on wood
Musée de l'Hôtel-Dieu, Beaune

The picture shows a detail of the central panel. Four angels sound trumpets at the feet of Christ; they announce the Last Judgment and waken the dead. They surround the Archangel Michael, who, resplendent in his white robe scarlet cloak, impassively weighs the resurrected. The scale on his left sinks under the weight of the sins of one of the damned screaming in terror while in the other, one of the chosen seems to be expressing his thanks to the Archangel.

One cannot fail to admire the delicate brushwork and colouring of the brooch holding the Archangel's cloak.