The Blessed and the Not So Blessed

Which one are you? Do you pass the final judgment? One walking up to this, about to enter the Autun Cathedral in France, would be terrified. This tympanum was meant to scare sinners and bring them into the church. This is over the west door in the narthex, which depicts the Last Judgment. In the center, Christ presides in majesty from inside a mandorla surrounded by angels.

To his right the apostles stand facing away from Christ except for Peter who faces Christ and takes the righteous to heaven. Above the apostles, an enthroned Virgin Mary extends her hands in blessing while an angel trumpets to waken the dead. On the far left, the blessed ascend to heaven by holding on to the legs and wings of the angels. St. Peter oversees the operation with a key, and takes one righteous soul by the hand.

Below, more of the redeemed rise from their graves with the help of angels and rejoice. Towards the left, a person sits on his grave and unwraps his grave clothes, looking up in wonder. Among the saved can be spotted two bishops and two pilgrims. The pilgrims have symbols on their bags - a Greek cross for the pilgrimage to Jerusalem and a scallop shell representing Santiago de Compostela.

On Christ's right there is depicted the Weighing of Souls, presided over by Archangel Michael who leans on the scales to help them go in the right direction. Meanwhile, a devil attempts to sway the scales in his favor by hanging on them.

Along the bottom is an inscription warning against the horrors of Hell. On the far right, divided from the horrific scene by a vine, an angel trumpets to awaken the dead. Below this, more of the damned march to their doom. The most interesting are towards the right: a greedy man clutches his moneybags, and one sinner is pulled into Hell by two giant claws around his head. Two people sit on their tombs in their grave clothes. Compared with the joyful parallel on the left, they do not look to be in any hurry to cast them aside and stand up.