Last Judgment Tympanum, Cathedral of St. Lazare, Autun

[@invinoveritas6859]

I could stare at these cathedral decors for hours.I think they are beautiful works of art.....

[@almeggs3247]

Thanks for your great descriptions of the sculptures above door depicting heaven and hell. That for me is the best thatyou do!

[@smarthistory-art-history]

Thank you so much for your correction. You are absolutely right, Lazarus's sister is not Mary Magdalene. It is worth noting however that the Golden Legend, which would become available about a century later-but was based on earlier common beliefs, actually does conflate these two Marys (just as I did). Best, Steven

[@temptemp563]

Too many Marys!

[@sandie157]

Actually Mediaeval Catholicism puts them together and present Catholic tradition does put Mary Magdalen as the sister of Martha and Lazarus

[@victoriamilonas1942]

The correction was available (8 years old!?) just as I was going to say I had never heard the combination of Magdelane & Lazarus before. And I did catechism, Catholic high school & a big bible as history course. Missed the whole conversation.

[@Pollicina_db]

@@sandie157 But isn’t Mary Magdalene colloquialy considered the prostitute that Jesus saved from stoning?

[@lucy890694]

Very good description of the tympanum very helpful !

[@gehssa]

Wow this is amazing!

[@samoinborut1339]

I was there. Impressive!

[@Sasha0927]

OH MAN, THE START OF THIS VIDEO. Of all Dr. Zucker's smoothly-toned intros... this is an instant classic, lol. 😱😅 As ~edgy~ as the modern world is, I've seen surprisingly little of hell depicted in artworks, now that I think about it... Jesus' hands intrigued me. The left is noticeably larger and appears clean - the right, not so much. At first I thought this was incidental, but when I heard about the positioning of those to his right and left, it made me think perhaps the blighted hand is representing him becoming sin for [their] salvation.. I don't mind it being coincidence, but it's definitely intriguing.

[@KeyvyKeyChannel]

Wonderful video!

[@rebeccaryan9058]

Liar

[@mikiscruf]

The absolute scariest is at Conques!

[@adrianjohnson7920]

The most famous / notorious bishop of Autun stayed here less than a month when he was appointed in early 1789 by a reluctant King Louis XVI, who only did it as a favour to the bishop's dying father. The king knew that the young (35 year old) priest was a notorious libertine, but hoped the promotion would "settle him down". The new Bishop -- despite having a master's degree in theology from the Sorbonne - didn't say Mass very well; ( he said only 3 in his life) He had come that Spring from Paris to Autun merely to coax his clergy to elect him a delegate to the Estates General, (later, the National Assembly) which would that Summer start the French Revolution. The handsome and elegant Bishop of Autun was actually a moderate reformer who wanted a constitutional monarchy. ( His aristocratic but poor family had forced him, unwillingly, to be a priest, because he was born lame of a club-foot, and couldn't have a military career. ) After the fall of the Bastille, the Bishop of Autun resigned his clerical status, nationalised chruchproperty, and was excommunicated. After a 4-year exile in the UK & USA (because he was an ancient-regime aristocrat) to escape the Reign of Terror, he returned to become the greatest statesman of his age: Prince Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand Peregord, the political genius and diplomatist better known simply as Talleyrand. The rest of his 40 year political career, spanning 6 regimes, was actually attempted damage -control of the unintended consequences (including Napoleon) of the Revolution. Bishop Talleyrand, behind the impassive expression which never revealed what he was thinking, would have interiorly shuddered as he walked under this tympanum in 1789, for he was not an atheist -- he knew he was taking a sacrilegious vow at his consecration, and had fainted during the ceremony. Though excommunicated for some years, this witty epicurean was (despite a penchant for gambling, insider trading, and a fan-club of adoring mistresses) respectful of religion and at his celebrity deathbed publicly repented of his myriad sins, and his dire part in the Revolution. In 1838 Prince Maurice de Talleyrand aged 84 was given the last sacraments (as a bishop, which he actually never ceased to be!) and died at his Paris mansion (now the American Embassy) reconciled to the Church. He is NOT buried at Autun, -- that would have been in bad taste. Prince / Bishop Maurice was said to have committed every sin, except against good taste. His mummified body rests in a handsome tomb in the chapel de Notre Dame near his country estate, Chateau Valençay in Indre.

[@merriweatherblue]

Lazarus was not Mary Magdalene's brother. He was the brother of Mary and Martha but not Magdalene. That was a different Mary. I see this error was pointed out by others about 10 years ago.

[@smarthistory-art-history]

yes, thank you. We offered a correction soon after the video was published.

[@thomasfagundes63]

Which references do you uses for make this video? I needed for my research of medieval tympanum

[@smarthistory-art-history]

Many. There is a long bibliography for Autun and for Gislebertus.

[@sandie157]

Scares the modern mind too....which is why we ignore it.....

[@invinoveritas6859]

Tympanum.I think the Khmer ( Cambodian peope ) called it " Kbach Haoh Cheang ".If i'm not mistaking.

[@dlwatib]

Somehow, I don't feel the horror that is supposed to be invoked here. The characters are rather cartoon-like, so instead of feeling horror at the reality of their situation, it feels more like a black comedy. It's cartoon violence where the characters don't bleed and never actually die no matter how fatal their accident. That may not have been the Bishop's intention, but I feel quite sure that it was the sculptor's. Quite missing are any actual instruments of torture such as the Medieval mind was so capable of inventing during the Inquisition. Nowhere are the fires of Hell evident. The demons do indeed look hideous, but then so do the gargoyles which have no more significance than the little beasts who's entwined limbs form the knots around an initial on an illuminated manuscript page.

[@jhat2014]

I know you posted four years ago but I'll respond anyways haha. The emotions and feelings invoked in your modern brain WOULD be different from those invoked in a medieval brain, wouldn't they? Try to imagine being a non-literate medieval peasant who has a very limited experience with "renderings of beings" (of any kind; humans, demons, angels, etc). Add to that an intense, literal belief in the figures and stories described. Add to that I imagine they would be quite terrified. I'm also not at all surprised that you were not! If you showed a modern horror movie to one of these medieval peasants, they might just actually die from terror! We are very different.

[@oaim50]

@@jhat2014 I suppose they would differ, but how could we ever know what was in the heads of the artist and the viewers of his art? There is so much modernist polemic against the Middle Ages that can serve as a shortcut to insight, I guess. But I agree, the hot and cold Buddhist hells are a lot more terrifying than this, and their punishments suit the crimes very neatly.