Last Judgment (Vienna)

While sin and folly occupy a prominent place in Bosch's art, their significance can be fully appreciated only within the context of a larger medieval theme, the Last Judgment. The preparation for this Final Day was one of the chief concerns of the medieval Church. In Bosch's days the terrors of the Final Reckoning were intensified by a general sense of its imminence. Nowhere, however, was this chronic anxiety of the age given more vivid expression than in Bosch's imposing Last Judgment triptych in Vienna, executed probably during his middle period.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 10 minutes):
Giuseppe Verdi: Requiem, Dies irae (excerpt)