Last Judgment Altarpiece (Haguenau)

This polychrome wood carving depicts the Last Judgment. On the left, a procession of saved figures in ecclesiastical and royal robes stands with hands in prayer. In the center, Archangel Michael with golden wings and a crown holds a sword aloft and a set of scales to judge the dead, who are shown rising from their graves in the background. On the right, a horned, golden-skinned demon pulls a chain attached to a group of naked, suffering damned souls being swallowed by a large, grotesque dragon-like head representing the Hellmouth. The figures are carved in high relief with expressive, varied facial features and painted in vibrant gold, reds, and deep blues.

This work represents the late medieval preoccupation with the 'psychostasia' (weighing of souls) and the literalization of eternal punishment in the Hellmouth, themes central to Christian eschatology and the 'Ars Moriendi' tradition. It reflects the iconographic conventions of 15th and 16th-century Northern European retables, serving as a didactic tool for the congregation regarding salvation and damnation.