The Judgement of the Damned thumbnail 1
The Judgement of the Damned thumbnail 2
Not currently on display at the V&A

The Judgement of the Damned

Relief
ca. 1675 to 1700 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This wax shows Christ in Judgement seated on a cloud, with a devil grabbing a damned soul. Below is an altar with objects symbolic of death and mortality and underneath are two devils with a recumbent skeleton and the fiery mouth of Hell swallowing sinners. The wax is attributed to Caterina de Julianis, a Neapolitan nun and pupil of the specialist wax sculptor Gaetano Giulio Zumbo (1656-1701), but was possibly made by or after Giovanni Bernardino Azzolini (1572-1645).

Azzolini was a sculptor, mainly active in Naples. He is known to have sculpted a tableau of 'The Four last Things' in wax in Genoa in 1610 (now in the Convento de las Carmelitas Descalzas, Peñaranda de Bracamante, Spain).


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleThe Judgement of the Damned (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Coloured wax
Brief description
Wax relief, depicting the Judgement of the Damned, attributed to Caterina de Julianis, possibly by or after Giovanni Bernardino Azzolini, Spanish/Italian, 17th century
Physical description
Relief in coloured wax, the Judgment of the Damned. The upper part of the relief is framed in curtains, and shows Christ in judgement seated on a cloud with three attendant angels and to the left a devil seizing a damned soul. Arrows or thunderbolts descend from the cloud on to a distant landscape at the back. In the middle of the relief on an altar or table is a skull surrounded by the crown of thorns, the instruments of the Passion, three boxes, an hourglass, a money bag, a painted pax and a book. Beneath is a recumbent skeleton with two devils and on the left the fiery mouth of a monster swallowing sinners. On the front of the altar or table is the inscription MORS IMPIORVM PESSIMA, and beneath is a second inscription: mortuus est Diues Eupolo. et se/ pultus est in inferno. Luc 16.
Dimensions
  • Height: 26.7cm
  • Width: 19.4cm
Gallery label
RELIEF OF THE JUDGEMENT OF THE DAMNED Attributed to Caterina De Julianis (active form about 1690) Italian, Naples; about 1690-17— Coloured wax The wax shows Christ in judgement seated on a cloud, with a devil grabbing a damned soul. Below is an altar with objects symbolic of death and mortality, and underneath a skeleton and the fiery mouth of hell swallowing sinners. The artist was probably Caterina De Jukianis, a Neapolitan nun and pupil of the specialist wax sculptor Gaetano Giulio Zumbo (1656-1701), whose time and death can be seen in the adjacent gallery (Room 2A). (1993 - 2011)
Credit line
Bequeathed by Lady de Gex.
Object history
Bequeathed by Lady de Gex in 1938.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This wax shows Christ in Judgement seated on a cloud, with a devil grabbing a damned soul. Below is an altar with objects symbolic of death and mortality and underneath are two devils with a recumbent skeleton and the fiery mouth of Hell swallowing sinners. The wax is attributed to Caterina de Julianis, a Neapolitan nun and pupil of the specialist wax sculptor Gaetano Giulio Zumbo (1656-1701), but was possibly made by or after Giovanni Bernardino Azzolini (1572-1645).

Azzolini was a sculptor, mainly active in Naples. He is known to have sculpted a tableau of 'The Four last Things' in wax in Genoa in 1610 (now in the Convento de las Carmelitas Descalzas, Peñaranda de Bracamante, Spain).
Bibliographic references
  • Pope-Hennessy, John. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: Her Majesty's Stationary Office, 1964, pp. 633
  • Eade, Jane, ‘The Theatre of Death’, in: Oxford Art Journal, Oxford University Press, 36.1. 2013, pp. 109-125
Collection
Accession number
A.64-1938

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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