"Requiem aeternam dona eis": The Beaune "Last Judgment" and the Mass of the Dead Author(s): Barbara

G. Lane Source: Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art, Vol. 19, No. 3 (1989), pp. 166180 Published by: Stichting voor Nederlandse Kunsthistorische Publicaties Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3780717 . Accessed: 23/08/2011 22:26
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167

"Requiemaeternamdonaeis": and the Mass of the Dead* the BeauneLastJudgment

BarbaraG. Lane
in the altarpiece RogiervanderWeyden'sLastJudgment Hotel-Dieu at Beaune (figs. I and 2) is one of the rare earlyNetherlandishpaintingswhose artist, originallocation, date, and patronare all reasonablycertain.On the other hand, no documents help to explain why it depicts the Last Judgmentor how it was used. Writers that the LastJudgmentis a natural haveoften remarked subject for a hospital chapel, although it seems to be unprecedented in hospital decoration. In the vast devotedto the altarpiece,few schoamountof literature lars have tried to place it in its liturgicalcontext.I This article investigates the liturgical impetus behind the choice of the Last Judgment theme, and attempts to to the ceremonof the altarpiece clarifythe relationship ies performedin its hospitalsetting. is universallyacceptedas The BeauneLastJudgment
* versionsof this study werepresentedat the Symposium Preliminary on Art and Liturgy,RobertBrannerForumfor MedievalArt, Columbia University, 5 April 1986,and in the Daniel H. SilberbergLecture Series, Instituteof Fine Arts, New YorkUniversity,30 October1987. I am indebtedto M. Chevigneof the CentreHospitalierde Beaunefor providing me with extended access to the Beaune altarpiecein the summerof 1987.For suggestionsand criticismat variousstagesof the projectI am especiallygratefulto MaryanW. Ainsworth,Elizabeth A.R. Brown, William C. Clark, Pamela Scheingorn, and Camilla Trinchieri. I For a reviewof the sourcesand purposesof the altarpiece,see N. L'Hotel-Dieu deBeaune(Les PrimitifsFlamands Veronee-Verhaegen, I. Corpus de la peinturedes ancienspays-basmeridionauxau quinzieme siecle, vol. 13), Brussels I973, pp. 50-52, with extensivebibliography.For its sources,see alsoT.H. Feder, "Rogervan derWeyden, andthe altarpiece of the 'LastJudgmentat Beaune',"(diss.) Columbia University 1975, pp. I33-73. 2 For this passageof the inventory,see esp. Veronee-Verhaegen, op. cit. (note i), p. o09 and pl. ccxxxix. The entire inventoryof the chapeland wardappearsin J.B. Boudrot,"Inventairede l'H6tel-Dieu de de Beaune(I501)," Societed'Histoire, et de Litterature d'Archeologie de Beaune,Memoires rArrondissement (1874), pp. 121-36, reprintedin Feder, op. cit. (note i), appendix3, pp. 257-69. 3 See esp. Veronee-Verhaegen, op. cit. (note i), pp. 88-92 (with a

the painting described in an inventory of I50I as the main altarpiece of the ward chapel in the Hotel-Dieu.2 This inventory does not identify the artist of the polyptych, but laboratory examination has so far supported its traditional attribution to Rogier van der Weyden, with the probable participation of a number of assistants.3 Scholars usually assume that it dates between 1443 and I451, the years of the foundation of the hospiital and the consecration of its chapel.4 The patron of both the hospital and the altarpiece was Nicolas Rolin, the chancellor of Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy. Rolin received permission to build a hospital from Pope Eugenius IV in I44I, and two years later he signed the charter for the foundation of the HotelDieu at Beaune.5 The charter does not mention that he commissioned an altarpiece, but the I50I hospital inreview of opinions on its attributionon pp. 64-70); and idem, "Le in Le dessinsousRetable de Beaune--laboration et collaboration," IV,29-30-31 octobre 981, ed. R. van jacent dansla peinture,Colloque Louvain-la-Neuve 1982, pp. I iSchoute and D. Hollanders-Favart, 15 (withan analysisof the sectionsin whichRogier'sassistantsaresaid conclusionsbecameoutto have participated). Veronee-Verhaegen's dated with the inventionof infraredreflectography, althoughno evidence to contradictthem has yet appeared.(ComparehoweverJ.P. in Filedt Kok's criticismsof her methodsof attributingunderdrawing his review of her 1973 volume in Simiolus8 (1975-76), pp. I88-89). For the conditionand restorationof the altarpiece,see Veronee-Verhaegen,op. cit. (note I), pp. 1-29 and 75-80, and Feder, op. cit. (note occursin Vero4 A reviewof opinionson the date of the altarpiece op. cit. (note i), pp. 70-74. nee-Verhaegen, 5 For the 1443charterand the papalbull of 8 SeptemberI44I, see de Beaune,Beaune J.B. Boudrot,Fondationet statutsde l'Hotel-Dieu 1878, pp. 5-22, translatedinto French on pp. 73-91. The French translationof the charterin H. Stein, L'Hotel-Dieude Beaune,Paris 1933, pp. 7-14, reprintedin Feder, op. cit. (note i), appendix2, pp. 246-56, is less accurate;the French translationsof the bull in E. deBeaune,1443-1880, Beaunei88 , p. 4, andA. Bavard,L'Hotel-Dieu au xve siecle: Nicolas Rolin, 1380-I46I, Paris Perier, Un chancelier 1904, pp. 368-69 (which is basedon Bavard),and the English version
I), pp. 119-31.

:N :

interiorand I-2 Rogiervan der Weyden,LastJudgment altarpiece, exterior.Beaune,H6tel-Dieu

i68

BARBARA G. LANE

3 Beaune,Hotel-Dieu, wardand chapel

ventoryidentifiesRolin and his third wife, Guigone de Salins,as the kneelingdonorson the outsidewingsof the polyptych.6 Born at Autun in i376, Rolin made numerousprovisions for his salvation before his death there on 18 JanuaryI462.7 As earlyas 1426, he establishedMasses for his soul and the souls of his ancestors at NotreDame-du-Chastelin Autun,and in I429-30 he donated funds for the rebuildingof his familychapelin the same church.8It wasfor this chapelthathe commissionedthe Madonna by Jan van Eyck, now in the Louvre in Paris,
in Feder, op. cit. (note I), p. 92 (which cites Perier)are incomplete. 6 See note 2 above. For evidence that Guigone was Rolin's third wife (not his second, as usuallystated), see G. Valat, "Nicolas Rolin, chancelierde Bourgogne,"Mimoiresde la Sociite' duenne,n.s. 4I de f'Htel-Dieu de (1913), p. 4; P. Esdouhardd'Anisy, Le polyptyque Beaune,Brussels& Paris 1916, p. i8, note 1;and Veronee-Verhaegen, op. cit. (note I), p. 49. 7 For Rolin's epitaph, see H. de Fontenay, "Notre-Dame, eglise n.s. 8 (1879), de la SocieteEduenne, et collegiale,"Mimoires paroissiale p. 402 (cited in A.H. van Buren, "The canonicalofficein Renaissance painting, part 2: more about the Rolin Madonna,"Art Bulletin 60 (1978), p. 631, note 68). 8 On Rolin's donations to Notre-Dame-du-Chastel,see esp. H. Adhimar,"Sur la Viergedu ChancelierRolin de Van Eyck,"Bulletin de lInstitutRoyal du PatrimoineArtistique 15 (1975), pp. II-I4, and vanBuren,op. cit. (note 7), pp. 630-31. For his biographyin general, see for instance Perier, op. cit. (note 5), passim;H. Pirenne, "Rolin (Nicolas)," in Biographienationale...de Belgique,vol. 19, Brussels 1907,pp. 828-39; and Feder, op. cit. (note I), pp. 79-97. the exactlocationof the panelin Rolin's 9 For a proposalregarding

sometime between I430

and I436.9 Rolin almost

founded his Hotel-Dieu in Autun as well. His decision to build it in Beaune was probablybased partlyon the fact that the need for a hospital there was especially urgent as a result of the famines that had spread throughoutBurgundyin recentyears. 0 Rolin stated his reason for founding the hospital in the opening words of the I443 charter:"...having put aside human cares [and] thinking of my own salvation...""

His continued obsession with redemption is

revealed in the amendments which he added to the

chapel,see van Buren,op. cit. (note 7), pp. 631-33, wherethe panelis datedas earlyas 1430or I431. See J. Snyder,"The chronologyof Jan van Eyck's paintings," in Album Amicorum J.G. van Gelder, The
Hague 1973, p. 297, for a chart summarizing opinions about its dating

in the earlierliterature. io The famine of 1438 and the extensive deaths and outbreaksof plaguein the followingyearsare discussedin Bavard,op. cit. (note 5), pp. 1-2, and Perier,op. cit. (note 5), p. 368. For Rolin's indecisionon the location of the Hotel-Dieu and his reasonsfor choosing Beaune, see Bavard,op. cit. (note 5), p. 5; Perier,op. cit. (note 5), p. 369; Stein, triptychs:a op. cit. (note 5), p. I5; S.N. Blum, Early Netherlandish study in patronage,Berkeley & Los Angeles I969, p. 37; Veroneeintroductionby P. Quarr6,p. xi); and Feder, op. cit. (note I), pp. 9293. Ii "...humanispostpositissollicitudinibus,de propriasalute recoof gitans...;"Boudrot,op. cit. (note 5), p. 5. Cf. the Frenchtranslations this passagein ibid., p. 73; Stein, op. cit. (note 5), p. 7; and Feder, op. cit. (note I), p. 246; and the English translationand discussion in Blum, op. cit. (note io), pp. 46-47.
Verhaegen, op. cit. (note i), p. 63 (with additional remarks in the

The Beaune Last Judgment and the Mass of the Dead

I69

4 Patientsof the Hotel-Dieuin theirbeds,from Livrede vie active.Paris,Musee de 1'Assistance Publique,cat. nr. 59, fol. 77

charter in I459, three years before his death.'2 One of these described the funeral services that he wished held for him in the hospital chapel; another decreed that the Office of the Dead must be said there twice a day, before breakfast in the morning and at Vespers, along with the Hours of the Virgin and specific recommendations for his soul and that of his wife. 3 As Blum noted, even the bread given to the poor each morning was henceforth to be donated in his name. 4 It is probable that Rolin hoped his donation of Rogier's polyptych would help him achieve salvation just as much as his foundation of the hospital. That he associated the altarpiece with death is suggested by the fact that
12 Cf. Blum, op. cit. (note o1), pp. 45-46. The amendmentsare printedin the originalLatin in Boudrot,op. cit. (note 5), pp. 51-71, in Stein, op. on pp. 0o6-27, andsummarized with a Frenchtranslation

he appearson its exteriorin a hooded, blackvelvet furlined robe that conforms to his specificationsfor his funeralattire.I5 Although he was buried in his family churchin Autun, Rolin seems to have conceivedof Rogier's paintingas a funerarymonumentfor himself and his family.16 As scholarshaveoften noted, however,this was only one of its purposes. Rogier's polyptych served as the main altarpieceof the hospitalchapel, which was dedicatedto Christ, the Virgin, and St Anthony. 7 Like a number of medieval hospitals,the Hotel-Dieu at Beauneresembleda Christian basilicain its wide, nave-likeward that ended in a chapel(fig. 3). 8 This design reflectsRolin's intentions
op. cit. (note I), p. 51, argued 135, note 62, and Veronee-Verhaegen, that he originally intended to be buried in the hospital chapel at Beaune. Apparently, only Guigone and Philippote, one of his daughtersby his second wife, were buried in the chapel (Bavard,op. cit. (note 5), pp. 93 and I 3; Perier,op. cit. (note 5), pp. 378 and 385; andStein, op. cit. (note 5), pp. 26 and28). Their tombsweredestroyed in FebruaryI794, duringthe FrenchRevolution;for the allegedsubsequenthistoryof Guigone'sremains,see Bavard,op. cit. (note 5), pp. 284 and 333-34. 17 For the dedicationof the chapel, see Boudrot,op. cit. (note 5), pp. 6 and 74; Stein, op. cit. (note 5), p. 8; Feder, op. cit. (note i), p. 246;and note 29 below. i8 For the medievalwardand chapelcombination,see esp. F. BoiParis I945, pp. 14 and en France,itude historique, net, Le Lit d'hopital hospitalarchitecture, of European 17-19; D. Leistikow, Ten centuries Ingelheim am Rhein 1967, pp. 25-3I; and J.D. Thompson and G. history,New Haven & Goldin, Thehospital:a socialand architectural
London 1975, pp. 2I-30.

cit. (note 5), pp. I8-23 and Feder, op. cit. (note I), pp. 101-02. 13 Amendments26 (Boudrot,op. cit. (note 5), pp. 68 and 124) and 23 (ibid., pp. 66 and I22). Feder, op. cit. (note I), p. I02, claimed that

the prayersin Amendment23 were to be recited three times a day becausehe translated"de mane ante prandium"as "in the morning and before dinner."This misinterpretation may derive from the incorrectFrench translationin Stein, op. cit. (note 5), p. 22 ("dans la matineeet avantle diner"). I4 Blum, op. cit. (note io), p. 45 (Amendment13;Boudrot,op. cit.
(note 5), pp. 62 and 17). 15 This was noted by Feder, op. cit. (note i), pp. I89-9I, citing

"NicolasRolin," Perier,op. cit. (note 5), p. 377, andJ. d'Arbaumont, n.s. i(i865), p. 8. et Biographique, RevueNobilaireHistorique I6 For evidencethatRolinwasburiedwith his familyin the choirof Notre-Dame-du-Chastelratherthan in his family chapel there, see vanBuren,op. cit. (note 7), p. 631, note 68. Blum, op. cit. (note Io), p.

I70

BARBARA G. LANE

in the foundationof the hospital.In the charter,he sti- there,a doorled directlyto the hospitalcemetery.24 fromthe chapelby a pierced The wardwas separated pulatedthat thirty beds were to be placednearthe chapel, where Mass was to be celebratedby two priests screen, throughwhich the patientswitnessedthe cereat the altar.25 When they did so, they moniesperformed every day at 8 o'clock in the morning.19
The 150I inventory of the ward states that each of its beds accommodated two patients.20 A miniature from the Livre de vie active of 1482 by Jehan Henry (fig. 4) illustrates a similar situation at the Hotel-Dieu in Paris, with one pale patient isolated because she is close to death.2I Such conditions were apparently rather luxurious, since the "grands lits" in other fifteenth-century French hospitals held from three to fifteen patients, each with a different malady.22 Like most patients who entered hospitals in this period, the inmates at Beaune had little chance of leaving in anything but a coffin. In fact, the Hotel-Dieu buried its first fatality on io January 1452, only nine days after it had started receiving patients.23 Its layout indicates that the need for a fast, efficient method of disposing of the deceased had been anticipated. Just down the hall from the ward there was an infirmary that was used for burial preparations. From saw the Last Judgment altarpiece, whose enormous size

must have been determined by the need for it to be visibleto the entireward.26The imagesin the polyptych offered the patients the hope that their earthly pains would wouldbe curedandthe promisethattheirprayers them bring redemption. On the exterior,the grisaille,simulatedstatuesof Sts Sebastianand Anthony(fig. 2) were visible throughthe centeropeningof the piercedscreenwhenthe polyptych was in its normal closed position. These are not the patron saints of Rolin and his wife, who kneel before them, but healing saints whose presence derives from to the hospitalsetting.27St Sebastian, theirrelationship the first of the plague saints, was an intercessoragainst epidemicsof all kinds.28St Anthony,the originaldedicatorysaintof the hospital,could also be calledupon for protectionagainstthe plague.29He was most popular,

I9 Boudrot,op. cit. (note 5), pp. 12-I3 and 80-8i; Stein, op. cit.
(note 5), p. ii; and Feder, op. cit. (note I), p.
251.

Pope Eugenius IV

a dailyMass in the presenceof the patientsin the papalbull authorized Rolin permissionto buildthe hospital(Boudrot,op. cit. (note granting 5), pp. 19 and 21, 88 and go). For the bull see note 5 above. 20 Boudrot, op. cit. (note 2), p. 133, reprintedin Feder, op. cit. (note I), p. 265. 21 Paris, Musee de l'AssistancePublique, cat. nr. 59, fol. 77. For this miniatureand the manuscriptin which it occurs, see Dix siecles d'histoirehospitali?re parisienne:I'Hotel-Dieude Paris (651-1650), Paris 1961,pp. 114-15, nr. 156, and 37-38, nr. 28. 22 See esp. Boinet, op. cit. (note I8), pp. 21-25. For conditionsat the H6tel-Dieu in Paris, see E. Coyecque,L'Hotel-Dieude Paris au moyendge, vol. I, Paris i891, pp. 73-74; Dix siicles,cit. (note 21), p. I 15; and C. Coury, L'Hotel-Dieu de Paris: treizesieclesde soins,d'enet de recherche, Paris 1969, p. 31. seignement 23 Bavard,op. cit. (note 5), p. 14; Perier,op. cit. (note 5), p. 373; deBeauneet les Stein, op. cit. (note 5), p. 24; A. Leflaive,L'Hotel-Dieu Paris 1959, p. 21; Blum, op. cit. (note o0),p. 38; and hospitali?res, Veronee-Verhaegen, op. cit. (note i), p. 64. 24 Cf. Blum, op. cit. (note Io), p. 38, with a plan of the hospitalin fig. 31 (note that the chapelactuallyfaceseast-south-east). 25 See Boinet, op. cit. (note I8), p. 14;Blum, op. cit. (note io), pp. 38-39; andthe seventeenth-century descriptionof the hospitalin Veronee-Verhaegen, op. cit. (note I), p. xii. Accordingto Bavard,op. cit. (note 5), p. 333, the presentscreenwas reconstructed duringthe restorationof the ward that began in 1875 from the descriptionof the originalscreenin the inventory;see Boudrot,op. cit. (note2), pp. 12324 and Feder, op. cit. (note i), p. 260.

26 In the opened position, the polyptychmeasures215 x 560 cm. See Veronee-Verhaegen, op. cit. (note i), p. 31, and pl. I, for a view of it is now the wardwith the altarpiece temporarily replacedon the altar; displayedin anotherroomof the hospital. 27 Cf. the discussionin Feder, op. cit. (note i), p. 180-8I. For the similarroles of these two saints in Griinewald'sIsenheim altarpiece, see Veronee-Verhaegen, op. cit. (note I), p. 46, and A. Hayum, "The the hospitalcontext meaningand functionof the Isenheimaltarpiece: relarevisited,"Art Bulletin59 (1977), p. 503. For their problematic tionshipto Rolin and his wife, see the sourcescited in Veronee-Verhaegen,op. cit. (note I), pp. 45-46, andA. Eorsi,"Fromthe expulsion of the Last Judgement to the enchainingof the devil:the iconography altar of Rogier van der Weyden in Beaune," Acta HistoriaeArtium
Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 30 (I984), p. I49.

28 See esp. L. du Broc de Segange,Les saintspatronsdescorporations et protecteurs invoquisdans les maladieset dans les spicialement de la vie, vol. I, Paris 1887, pp. 60-63; L. Reau, circonstances critiques Paris 1955-59, vol. 3, pt. 3, p. 1191;and de l'art chretien, Iconographie M.M. Antony-Schmitt,Le cultede Saint Sibastienen Alsace, Strasbourg& Colmar1977, p. I0. 29 See Reau,op. cit. (note28), vol. 3, pt. 1, p. 104,for St Anthony's powersagainstthe plague.Pope Nicholasv changedthe dedicationof the hospitalfrom St Anthonyto St John the Baptistin a papalbull of of the chapel;for 30 December 1451, one day beforethe consecration the confusionover this date, usuallycited as 1452, see Veronee-Verhaegen, op. cit. (note i), p. 72. On the reasonsfor the change in the dedication,see ibid., pp. 64 and72, andBlum, op. cit. (note Io), p. 41. Frenchtranslations of the bull appearin Bavard,op. cit. (note 5), pp. 57-58, and Leflaive,op. cit. (note 23), pp. 19-20.

The BeauneLastJudgment and the Mass of the Dead

I7I

however,as the patronof skin diseasesand the so-called "St Anthony'sfire,"now recognizedas ergotism.30 The interiorof the altarpiece(fig. i) dramatizesthe promise of the Mass.3' Dressed as a deacon at High Mass, the ArchangelMichael functionsas the assistant to the sacrificingpriest, Christ.32When the polyptych was opened during Mass, Rogier's overwhelmingLast remindedthe patients and the donors of the Judgment in the salvationthey could expect throughparticipation dailyoblationperformedin the chapel.There are, however, a number of subjects from Christ's infancy and Passionthat would have conveyeda similarmessage.A review of some of the precedents and sources of the suggeststhatthe choice of its themerelatedto altarpiece the funerarypurposeof the chapel. The two paintingsthat are most frequentlycited as precedents for the Beaune Last Judgmentare a large panel in the Hotel de Ville in Diest, generally dated shortlyafter I420 (fig. 5),33 and Stefan Lochner's verin sion of the theme at the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum Cologne (fig. 6), which was probably painted about the centralDeesis i440.34 Eachof these panelsportrays groupbetweena Gothic Gate of Paradiseand a frenzied Hell scene. In the version in Diest, a group of seated apostles incongruously dominates the center foreground, with no apparentrelationshipto the nearby souls rising from their tombs or sinking into the fiery
Le Mal 30 For St Anthonyand ergotism,see esp. H. Chaumartin, des ardentset lefeu Saint-Antoine,Paris I946, and V.H. Bauer, Das in KunstundMedizin,Berlin,Heidelberg& New York Antonius-Feuer I973, esp. pp. I9-33. The faminesin Burgundyin the yearspreceding Rolin'scommissionof the altarpiece (see note io above)must haveled to epidemics of ergotism that more than justified the need for St Anthony'sprotection. 31 Cf. Veronee-Verhaegen, op. cit. (note I), p. 51, and B.G. Lane, Thealtar and the altarpiece: sacramental themes in earlyNetherlandish painting,New York 1984,pp. 139-43. 32 This idea was emphasized by M.B. McNamee in a presentation at the CollegeArt AssociationMeetingin 1986.For Michael'sliturgical vestments,see alsoVeronee-Verhaegen, op. cit. (note i), pp. 33 and 51; idem, "D'un 'JugementDernier' a l'autre...,"in Ars auroprior: studiaIoanniBialostocki dicata,Warsaw1981, p. 177; and sexagenario
Lane, op. cit. (note 31), p. 142.

5 LastJudgment. Diest, Hotel de Ville

33 For this panel,owned by the Musees Royauxdes Beaux-Artsin Brusselsbut still on displayin Diest, see esp. N. Veronee-Verhaegen, Cologne,Wallraf-Richartz"Le JugementDernierde Diest: le point de vue de l'historiend'art," 6 StefanLochner,LastJudgment. Museum Bulletinde rlnstitut Royal du Patrimoine IO(1967-68), pp. Artistique 99-I o, with previousbibliography. of the altarpieceof which this was the center 34 A reconstruction panel appearsin O.H. Forster, Stefan Lochner,ein Maler zu Koln,
Bonn 1952, pp. 13 and 122-24.

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BARBARA G. LANE

7 Gislebertus,LastJudgment tympanum.Autun, St Lazare

8 LastJudgment tympanum.Bourges,Cathedral

pit.35 Lochner's scene portrays dozens of the resurrected dead pleading for their salvationas angels and demons dispute over them; here, crowdsof the blessed vie for first place at the door of Paradise,while the tormented damned struggle in vain against the monsters who lead them towardtheir impendingdoom. In contrast to these terrifying, chaotic images, the Beaune Last Judgmentexudes calm and control. Its sense of orderderivesfrom its clearseparationbetween the realms of heaven and earth and its wide division between the end panels of Paradiseand Hell. Christ, raised so high above the other figures that the central panel extends upward to accommodatehim, seems to orchestratethe carefulbalanceand slow progressionof movementthroughoutthe painting.Immediatelybelow of him, St Michael weighs diminutivepersonifications virtue and sin. To Christ's right, a few blessed souls tentatively approachthe doors of Paradise,while the agonizeddamnedat his left fearfullydescendinto a Hell whose only demonsare the tormentsof the mind.36
35 For the possible derivationof the apostle group from an image of Pentecost, see Veronee-Verhaegen, op. cit. (note 33), p. 104 and note 6. 36 Amongthose who havenoted the absenceof demonsin this Hell scene are E. Panofsky, Early Netherlandish painting, Cambridge (Mass.) 1953, p. 270; N. Veronee-Verhaegen,"La 'Chute des Damnes' de Thierry Bouts au Musee des Beaux-Artsde Lille: note Bulletinde rlnstitut Royal du Patrimoine Artistique iconographique," 13 (1971-72), p. 20 and note Io; M. Davies, Rogiervan der Weyden, London 1972,p. I9; and Veronee-Verhaegen, op. cit. (note I), pp. 34, and 93. For contrasting 4I (with previousbibliography), opinions,see

The pronouncedhorizontalityand orderly division into separatezones in Rogier's painting are closer to Romanesqueand Gothic carved tympanaof the same theme than to the painted versions mentioned above. These similarities have led writers to compare the to such tympanaas those on the westBeaunealtarpiece ern doorway at St Lazare in Autun, and the central portal of the west facade of Bourges Cathedral(figs. 7 and 8).37 The lower section of Rogier'sLastJudgment, with the resurrectionof the dead stretchingacross the five central panels, even recalls the placement of the samethemeon the lintelsat both St LazareandBourges. Rogier could have known many such tympana, of course,so it wouldbe foolishto insist thatany one particular example influencedthe compositionof his polyptych. Nevertheless,it is quite possiblethat the colossal tympanumby Gislebertusat St Lazarein Rolin'snative city of Autunwasone of the sourcesof the Beaunealtarpiece, even if Rogierneversaw it. The liturgicalassociations of this tympanumsuggest that Rolin's familiarity
Feder, op. cit. (note i), pp. 197-202, and Eorsi, op. cit. (note 27), pp.
I23-25.

37 See Panofsky,op. cit. (note 36), p. 269, and Feder, op. cit. (note i), p. i60. For the twelfth-centurytympanumat Autun, see esp. D. Grivot and G. Zarnecki, Gislebertus, sculptorof Autun, New York
1961, pp. 25-55, and O.K. Werckmeister, "Die Auferstehung der

Toten am Westportalvon St. Lazarein Autun," Friihmittelalterliche Studien I6 (I982), pp. 208-36; for the thirteenth-centuryone at Bourges,in whichthe lintel is heavilyrestored,see T. Bayard,Bourges
Cathedral: the west portals, (diss.) New York 1976, pp. 89-94.

The BeauneLastJudgment and the Mass of the Dead

I73

ArenaChapel,view of the interiorfrom the Padua, 9 Padua,ArenaChapel,view of the interiorfrom the altar

io Giotto, LastJudgment, detailof Scrovegnioffering the chapelto the Virgin.Padua,ArenaChapel

with it contributedto his decisionto commissiona Last

Judgment.38

Althoughthe westernportalof St Lazareservesas the main entrancetoday, this was not the case in the fifteenth century. The originalmain entry of the church was througha doorwayin its north transept,where the tympanum portrayedthe Raising of Lazarus.39The westernportalfacedthe cemetery,whichheld the graves of the clergy and benefactorsof the church.40In this cemetery,therefore,burialprayerswererecitedbeneath Gislebertus'overpoweringLast Judgment.As Werckmeister demonstrated,in fact, this tympanum relates closelyto the liturgyof the Officeof the Dead celebrated in Autun in the twelfthcentury.4I NicolasRolin probablyassociatedthe LastJudgment gin (fig. Io).42 The words of Scrovegni's will indicate
38 Feder, op. cit. (note i), p. I60, suggested that this example inspiredRolin'sdecision,but did not discuss its liturgicalusage. 39 Grivot and Zarnecki,op. cit. (note 37), p. 146; Werckmeister, descriptionof the op. cit. (note 37), p. 21 . For a seventeenth-century north door as the "portailde l'entree,"see "Relationd'un voyage a Autun en 1646 par Du Buisson-Aubenay,"Memoiresde la Socidte n.s. 14 (1885), p. 283. For the tympanumof the Raising of Eduenne, Lazarus,see Grivot and Zarnecki,op. cit. (note 37), pp. 146-59, and "The lintel fragmentrepresentingEve from SaintO. Werckmeister, and Courtauld Institutes35 Lazare, Autun,"Journal of the Warburg (1972), pp. 1-30. 40 Grivot and Zarnecki,op. cit. (note 37), pp. 20 (noting that the cemeterywas not suppresseduntil the eighteenth century) and 146;

with deathfromchildhoodon, throughhis knowledgeof the funeraryusage of the overpoweringtympanumat Autun. This associationmay help to explain why he selected the Last Judgmentas the subjectfor the altarpiece of the chapel at Beaune. Considerationof a few earlierexamplesin which this subject appearsin connection with the liturgy of the dead will illustratethe logic of Rolin'schoice. Among the precedentsfor the use of the Last Judgfresment in a funerary chapelis Giotto'sLastJudgment co on the westernwallof the ArenaChapelin Padua(fig. 9). Probablycompletedby 1305,the chapelwas founded by Enrico Scrovegni,who kneels among the blessed in Paradiseas he offersa model of the building to the Vir-

Werckmeister, op. cit. (note 37), p. 22I. rec41 Werckmeister, op. cit. (note 37), pp. 210-25. Werckmeister of the LastJudgmentin John 5:25-29 was ognizedthatthe description used as a Gospelreadingin the RequiemMass. For its similarusagein Massesof the Dead, see note 52 below. fifteenth-century of the three figuresto whom 42 For the problematicidentification Scrovegni offers his chapel, see the following discussions in J.H. Stubblebine(ed.), Giotto:the ArenaChapelfrescoes, New York I969: D.C. Shorr,"The roleof the Virginin Giotto's LastJudgment," p. 173 and note i8; U. Schlegel, "On the picture programof the Arena Chapel,"pp. I92-93; and J.H. Stubblebine, "Giotto and the Arena ChapelFrescoes,"p. 90.

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BARBARA G. LANE

de Milan. Turin, ii Mass of the Dead, from Heures Museo Civico, fol. i6

that his reasonfor this foundationwas similarto Rolin's Schlegel argued that the entire fresco programof the motivation for building the Hotel-Dieu: "I, Enrico Arena Chapel, dominated by the monumental Last was determinedby "atonement,death, and Scrovegni... select the tomb for my body just by the Judgment, church and in the Churchof Saint Mary of Charityof judgment."44 Her conclusionthat "...it was the thought the Arena of Padua, namely in the monument con- of the Last Judgmentthat led to the constructionof the structedfor myself in that church-which church and church"could just as easily be applied to Rolin's hoswhichmonumentI had constructedby the graceof God pital in the followingcentury.45 for my lastingbenefit."43 in assoThe LastJudgmentalso appearsoccasionally fifwithin in the in illuminated Last the Dead the Mass of with ciation Judgment Scrovegniappears itself, contrastto Rolin's portrayal on an exteriorwing of Ro- teenth-centurybooks of hours.46An exampleoccursin gier'saltarpiece,but the intent is similarin both works. one of the so-called "Hand G" miniatures from the
43 Schlegel, op. cit. (note 42), pp. 199-200 (with a discussion of the For Scrovegni's intended location of Enrico's tomb on pp. I99-20I). desireto achievesalvation,see also Shorr,op. cit. (note 42), p. 171. 44 Schlegel, op. cit. (note 42), p. I9I. 45 Ibid., p. 20I.

46 The Last Judgment occurs more frequentlyas the illustration for the penitentialpsalmsin illuminatedmanuscripts,whereasscenes of funeralservicessuch as that in fig. i usuallyaccompanythe Office and Mass of the Dead.

The Beaune Last Judgment and the Mass of the Dead

I75

12 LastJudgment, Hours of Catherineof Cleves. New York, PierpontMorganLibrary,M. 917, p. 28

thesouls,Hours of Catherineof 13 St Michaelweighing Cleves. New York,PierpontMorganLibrary,M.917, p. 29

Turin-Milan Hours, where a historiated initial portrays an abbreviated LastJudgment below the half-page scene of mourners surrounding a coffin in the nave of a majestic Gothic church (fig. I I).47 This initial begins the first word of the Introit of the Mass of the Dead, "Requiem," beside the French rubric, "La messe des mors." Its Last Judgment relates just as closely to the text as do the main miniature and the scene in the bas-de-page, which shows the blessing of a grave in a cemetery. A rare example of the Last Judgment as the main illustration for the Requiem Mass occurs in two miniatures of the Hours of Catherine of Cleves, executed in
de Milan, fol. I I6; see G. Hulin de 47 Turin, Museo Civico,Heures Loo, Heuresde Milan, Brussels& Paris 1911, pp. 65-66 and pl. xxl, whereall threeminiatureson this pagearegiven to "HandG." For its originalplacementin the manuscript,see P. Durrieu, Les Tr?sBelles duDucJeande Berry,Paris1922, p. 120. ScholHeures de Notre-Dame ars are usually so concernedwith the question of whetheror not Jan vanEyckexecutedthe mainminiature on this pagethat they ignoreits relationshipto the text below, a case in point being Panofsky,op. cit. (note 36), p. 245. Although Feder, op. cit. (note i), p. 173, note 59,

the northern Netherlands in the same decade as the Beaune Last Judgment (figs. 12 and 13).48 In this case, a full-page miniature opposite the text resembles Rogier's painting in its placement of the judging Christ high above the resurrected dead. St Michael balances the scales in a separate miniature on the facing page, above the opening words of the Introit, "Requiem aeternam." As in the Turin-Milan Hours, the Arena Chapel, and the Beaune altarpiece, the Last Judgment appears here because it is one of the major themes of the Mass of the Dead. That Nicolas Rolin was conversant with the liturgy of
cited the image in the initial "R" as a possible source for Rogier's altarpiece,he also made no attemptto relateit to its text. 48 New York,PierpontMorganLibrary,M.917, pp. 28-29; see J. Plummer, TheHoursof Catherine of Cleves,New York 1966, pp. 2829, nrs. 49-50. This manuscriptis preservedin two volumes (M.917 and M. 945). See ibid., pp. 19-22, for a review of the evidence for datingit about I44o. Its Officeof the Dead, for the use of Windesheim and Utrecht, containsmanyof the passagesdiscussedbelow.

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G. LANE

death is indicatedby his establishmentof the recitation of the Officeof the Dead in the chapeltwicea day.49The prayersthat he specifiedfor his funeraryservice in the chapel, moreover, are common to both medieval and modernversionsof the Mass of the Dead.s0 In his reRolinchose the prayer questfor a "Requiemaeternam," that gave the RequiemMass its name. A brief reviewof this Mass, which must have been performedin the hospital chapelall too frequently,indicatesthat the subject he selected for his altarpiececould not have been more appropriate. The "Requiemaeternam"is the Introit of the Mass of the Dead. Its dramaticwordsarerepeatedconstantly throughoutboth the Mass and the Office: "Requiem aeternamdona eis, Domine: et lux perpetualuceat eis" ("Lord, grantthem eternalrest, and let perpetuallight shine upon them").5I As illustratedin figs. i and 13, this prayerusuallyintroducesthe Requiem Mass in liturgicaltexts. There aretwo alternateGospel readingsfor the Mass
of the Dead. The first, from John 5:25-29, describes
14 Christ,detailof fig. I

impending judgment: "The hour cometh wherein all that are in the gravesshall hear the voice of the Son of God. And they that have done good things shall come forth unto the resurrectionof life, but they that have of judgment."The sedone evil, unto the resurrection

dead, shall live, and every one that liveth and believeth in me shall not die for ever."52 Either of these readingssets the tone for the solemn wordsof the Offertory of this Mass:"LordJesus Christ, cond, from a later passage in John (II:21-27), concentrateson the Raisingof Lazarus,a prototypeof the re- kingof glory,deliverthe souls of all the faithfuldeparted surrectionof the dead. It too contains Last Judgment fromthe painsof hell and from the bottomlesspit. Save "I am the resurrection them from the lion's jaws;let them not be engulfed in imageryin Christ'sdeclaration: Even more draand the life; he that believeth in me, although he be hell nor swallowedup in darkness."53
49 See above, p. 169 and note 13. For the Officeof the Dead in the modern breviary,see The Hours of the Divine Officein Englishand Latin, Collegeville (Minn.) 1963, vol. I, pp. 99I-1029 (repeatedin vols. 2 and 3 on the same pages). For its medievaldevelopment,see burial,London 1977, pp. 66esp. G. Rowell, Theliturgyof Christian 67. Many of the prayersdiscussedbelow appearin variousversionsof the Officeof the Dead as well as the RequiemMass. 50 For example, the "Inclina Domine" (The Missal in Latin and English,Westminster (Maryland) 1963, p. 256*; hereaftercited as Missal) and the "Fidelium" (ibid., pp. I206, 246* and 251*). For varioususes of these prayersin medievalRequiem Masses, see J.W. Legg, The SarumMissal, Oxford I9I6, pp. 442 and 446-47, and R. Mediolani,I474, 2 vols. (Henry BradLippe (ed.), MissaleRomanum shawSociety, vols. 17 and 33), London 1899and 1907,vol. I, pp. 488 and 492, as well as the Hours of Catherineof Cleves (M.917, pp. 303 ; see note 48 above).In this discussion,the term"modern"refersto the usage in this century before the revisions of the 1970 Roman Missal,and the sourcescited are intendedto illustratethe consistency of the Mass of the Dead in variousfifteenth-century usages. 5x For the Requiem Mass in general,see "Requiem,"in The Oxford dictionary of the ChristianChurch,ed. F.L. Cross and E.A. Lifor its vingstone,Oxford I9742, p. 1175, with additionalbibliography; early history see J.A. Jungmann, The Mass of the RomanRite: its vol. i, trans. F.A. Brunner,New York 1951, and development, origins
pp. 217-19.

52 All biblicalcitationsare from the Douai version. Both of these passagesoccur as Gospel readingsfor the Mass of the Dead in Legg, op. cit. (note 50), p. 432, and Lippe, op. cit. (note 50), vol. I, pp. 48586; John
I I: 2-27

also appears in this context in the Hours of Cathe-

rine of Cleves (M.917, p. 48; see note 48 above). See also Missal, cit.
(note 50), pp. I207, 233*, and 248*.

53 "DomineJesu Christe,Rex gloriae,liberaanimasomniumfidelium defunctorumde poenis inferniet de profundolacu:liberaeas de ore leonis, ne absorbeateas tartarus,ne cadantin obscurum;"Missal, cit. (note 50), p. 234*. For the rest of this passage,see note 68 below. The Offertoryof the Requiem Mass is invariable;see Legg, op. cit. (note 50), p. 433, and Lippe, op. cit. (note 50), vol. I, p. 486.

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15 St Michael,detailof fig. I

matic is the "Libera me" response, sung during the modernAbsolutionaftera RequiemMass:"Deliverme, Lord, from everlastingdeath on that dread day when heavenand earthwill rock,and thou wilt come to judge the world by fire.... That day of wrath, calamity and sorrow;that great day of exceeding bitterness."54As scholarshave often noted, this responsewas one of the majorsources of the emotional sequence incorporated into the Mass of the Dead after the tract, the "Dies irae,"whose lyricalverses describethe Last Judgment in terrifyingdetail.55 Since the prayersof the Officeand Mass of the Dead
54 "Liberame, Domine, de morte aeterna, in die illa tremenda: Quandocaeli movendi sunt et terra:Dum veneris judicaresaeculum per ignem.... Dies illa, dies irae,calamitatiset miseriae,dies magnaet amaravalde;"Missal, cit. (note 50), p. 242*. For the full text of this in the Mass of the Dead, see F.J. Raby, response,usuallyabbreviated A history thebeginnings to thecloseof the of Christian-Latin poetryfrom middle ages,Oxford i9532, pp. 445-46, where its "sense of terror"is stressed. "Dies 55 For the "Liberame" as a sourceof the thirteenth-century irae,"see Rowell,op. cit. (note 49), pp. 67-68. For the "Dies irae"in general,see esp. Raby, op. cit. (note 54), pp. 443-52, with its original text on p. 448 and variousadditionsto it on p. 449. The "Dies irae" appearsin the Hours of Catherineof Cleves (M.917, pp. 32-34; see

concentrateon judgmentand salvation,the Last Judgment is an ideal subjectfor the altarpieceof a chapel in whichthey arerecited.The polyptychthatRogiercreated for Nicolas Rolin could hardlyhave dramatizedthe recurringthemes of these ritualsmore successfully.Its radiant gold background,spanning almost the entire width of the altarpiece,defines the celestial sphere toward which the resurrecteddead look for judgment. Curving inscriptionson either side of Christ (fig. I4) summarize the promise of the Requiem Mass. The white inscriptionto his right reads from bottom to top, echoingthe ascentof the risingscale:"Come,ye blessed of my Father,possessyou the kingdomprepared for you from the foundationof the world." In contrast,the red wordson his left descend towardthe damned:"Depart from me you cursed, into everlastingfire, which was preparedfor the devil and his angels."56 One featureof Rogier's compositionsimultaneously distinguishesit from its precedentsand confirmsits relationship to the liturgy of death: its emphasis on the Michael.In contrastto earlierLastJudgments archangel such as those illustratedabove, the centralfocus of the Beaunealtarpieceis St Michaelratherthan the judging Christ.Garbedin a gleamingwhite alb and an elaborate cope of red and gold brocade,the archangeldominates the foreground of the centerpanel(fig. 15). His alb comprisesthe largestareaof white in the painting,hypnotically attractingthe viewer's glance. Bridging the gap between the earthlyand celestial worlds, he is the only holy figurewho occupiesthe earthlyrealm.As VeroneeVerhaegenhas noted, he takesa smallstep forward,as if to enterthe viewer'sspace,and his piercinggazedirectly out of the picture seems to imply that the one to be judged is the worshipperhimself.57From the beds in the ward,he was visible throughthe centralopening of
note 48 above),as well as in the 1485 and 1493 editionsof the Roman Missal(Lippe, op. cit. (note 50), vol. 2, p. 293). For a modern,rhymed see Missal,cit. (note 50), pp. 230*-32*. J.-C. Payen, "Le translation, de la mort et des fins dernieresau moyen Dies Irae dansla predication 86 (i965), p. 64, stressedits recurringemphasison the age," Romania themesof fearand hope. 56 "Venitebenedictipatrismei possideteparatumvobis Regnuma constitucione[sic] mundi," and "Discedite a me maledictiin Ignem eternumqui paratisest dyaboloet angelis eius" (Matthew 25:34 and 41; Veronee-Verhaegen, op. cit. (note I), p. 59 and pls. LII-LIII). 57 Ibid., p. 33. McNamee (note 32) also noted that Michael is the only saint in the earthlyrealm.

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BARBARA G. LANE

the pierced screen whenever the interior of the altarpiece was on view. Even when the polyptych was closed, the patients would have felt his presence directly behind the shutters that depicted Sts Sebastian and Anthony. Like these intercessors on the exterior, Michael was also a plague saint,58 but this is not the only reason for his unusual prominence in Rogier's painting. One of the archangel's functions in the Beaune altarpiece is to weigh the souls, as in a number of French tympana of the Last Judgment, such as the one at Bourges mentioned above (fig. i6).59 Since it is Christ rather than Michael who decides the final destination of each soul, however, it is Christ who must control the movement of the scales. Rogier conveyed this idea by paralleling Christ's gestures and the tilt of the scales (fig. I7).60 As Christ's right hand necessarily rises in blessing, the scale below it also ascends. As his lowered left hand condemns the damned, the scale weighing sins sinks to the ground. In contrast to the image at Bourges and most Christian versions of the psychostasis, therefore, evil outweighs good in the Beaune Last Judgment.6' This reversal does not necessarily mean, how16 St Michael,detailof fig. 8 58 For Michaelas a plaguesaint, see esp. Veronee-Verhaegen, op. cit. (note i), p. 35, with previousbibliography. 59 See note 37 above for the tympanumat Bourges. Similarearly thirteenth-century examplesoccurat ChartresCathedral (south transept, central door; A. Katzenellenbogen,The sculptural programs of New York 1959, pp. 82-87); Notre-Dame, Paris Chartres Cathedral, Lessculptures de (west facade,centraldoor;A. Erlande-Brandenburg, Notre-Dame de Paris au Museede Cluny,Paris I982, pp. 28-41); and AmiensCathedral (west facade,centraldoor;W. Medding,Die Westvon Amiensund ihreMeister,Augsburg 1930, portaleder Kathedrale
pp. 20-29).

60 Among those who have commented on this parallel and the complementary positionof St Michael'sarmsare 0. Holtze, "Rogier vanderWeyden'sAltarvon Beaune,"Pantheon 27 (1941), pp. 126-28; Veronee-Verhaegen, op. cit. (note I), p. 33; Eorsi, op. cit. (note 27), pp. I39-41; and P. Scheingorn and D. Bevington, "'Alle this was token Domysday to Drede': visual signs of the Last Judgmentin the CorpusChristicycles and in late Gothic art,"in Homo,memento finis: the iconography in medieval art anddrama,Kalamazoo ofjustjudgment 1985, p. I25. 6i For overviews of the psychostasis, see M.P. Perry, "On the in Christianart," TheBurlington psychostasis Magazine22 (1912-13), Die Seelenwaage, pp. 94-105 and 208-18; L. Kretzenbacher, Klagenfurt 1958;Panofsky,op. cit. (note 36), pp. 270-72; Feder, op. cit. (note I), pp. 138-44; and the additionalsources cited in Veronee-Verhaegen, op. cit. (note I), pp. 34-35. For Michaelas the weigherof souls, see also S.G.F. Brandon,The judgment of the dead,London I967, pp. I 19-29, and J. Fournee, "L'archange de la mort et du jugement,"in du Mont Saint-Michel, vol. 3, Culte de Saint Millenairemonastique Michelet pelerinages au mont,Paris I971, pp. 79-82.

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ever, that Rogier's interpretation is as pessimistic as some writers have claimed.62 That it is a typically Rogerian solution is suggested by the fact that the position of the scales was changed during the execution of the painting.63 Rogier, who often conveyed symbolic messages through compositional motifs, thereby designated Christ as the judge in the psychostasis and Michael as his assistant.64 The emphasis on St Michael in the Beaune altarpiece also recalls his traditional association with Christ. The archangel's triumph over the dragon was often compared to Christ's victory over death. During his discussion of St Michael in his widely read Rationale divinorum offciorum, for instance, Durandus explained that this battle must be interpreted allegorically; in his conquest of evil, St Michael signifies Christ.65 Rogier seems to have expressed this symbolism through the parallel gestures of St Michael and Christ, as well as through their portrayal in similar sizes and on the same vertical axis. The strongest justification for the prominence of the archangel in Rogier's polyptych is, however, his function as the protector of the dead.66 Honored in shrines on the highest mountaintops and depicted often in cemetery chapels, Michael was praised as the messenger of heaven and the guardian of the dead.67 In the liturgy, he is characterized as the leader of the blessed to Paradise, as, for instance, in the Offertory of the Requiem Mass: "Let Saint Michael the standard-bearer bring them into that holy light which thou of old didst promise to Abra62 Such as Panofsky,op. cit. (note 36), pp. 271-72. 63 Veronee-Verhaegen, op. cit. (note 36), p. 22; idem., op. cit. (note i), pp. 8, 22, 33, 93, pls. cxcvi, cxcvlI and cc; idem, op. cit. (note
32), p. 173; and idem, op. cit. (note 3), p. I .

64 Veronee-Verhaegen, op. cit. (note I), p. 34, reviewedother explanationsfor this reversaland proposedHonoriusof Autun's Elucidariumas Rogier's source (citing Veronee-Verhaegen, op. cit. (note
36), pp. 25-27). Feder, op. cit. (note i), p. 141, also mentioned this

source,withoutreferenceto Veronee-Verhaegen. desdivinsoffices de 65 Bk. vii, ch. xii, pt. vii; see Rationalou manuel Guillaume Paris1854,p. 58. This Durand,vol. 5, trans.C. Barthelemy, treatisewas still popularin the fifteenthcentury. thirteenth-century On the parallelsbetween St Michael and Christ, see esp. F. Avril, "Interpretations symboliquesdu combat de Saint Michel et du dracit. (note 6i), pp. 40-49. gon," in Millenaire, 66 This role was stressed by McNamee (note 32); cf. VeroneeVerhaegen,op. cit. (note I), p. 35, with additionalbibliography. art in France:x II century, trans.D. 67 See esp. E. Mile, Religious Nussey, London&New York1913,pp. 377-78; H. Leclercq,"Michel chritienne et de liturgie, (culte du saint),"in Dictionnaire d'archeologie
ed. F. Cabrol and H. Leclercq, vol. 1, pt. i, Paris 1933, p. 905; and M.

I7 Christand St Michael,detailof fig. i

Martens, "Symbolismedu culte dans sa conjonctiondu sacre et du

profane," in Saint Michel et sa symbolique, Brussels 1979, pp. 122-23.

For Michael as the patronof cemetery chapels, see du Broc de Segange,op. cit. (note 28), vol. I, p. 339; R6au,op. cit. (note 28), vol. 2, pt. I, p. 46; Fourn6e,op. cit. (note 61), pp. 69-70; and M. Baudot, "SaintMichel dansla legendem6di6vale," in Millinaire,cit. (note 6i), p. 3 . Convincingargumentsagainstthe popularbelief that Michael was associatedwith Mercurywill be found in O. Rojdestvensky,Le culte de Saint Michel et le moyendge latin, Paris 1922, passim,and Fourn6e,op. cit. (note 61), pp. 88-91.

i8o

ham and his posterity."68Similarprayersoccur in the Officeof the Feast of St Michaelon 29 September.The antiphonof the thirdnocturnof Matinson that day, for instance, refers to the archangelas "God's messenger for virtuoussouls."69Otherprayersin this Officeidenoverall the souls on tify him as the "princeandguardian their journey home" and the "prince of Paradise."70 these Durandus'sdescriptionof St Michaelsummarizes the and who is chief the "It is he guardianof passages: it is he who is chargedto receivethe souls and Paradise; who is the princeof the church."71 St Michael's power as the guardianof the dead was one of the reasonsfor his popularity throughoutwestern Europein the Middle Ages. Amongthe numerouscities whereRogier wasBrussels,72 thatclaimedhis patronage van der Weyden, the officialcity painter,producedthe Beaunealtarpiece.In France,the cult of St Michaelwas especiallystrongin the fifteenthcentury,perhapspartly to Joan of ArC,73 as a result of his alleged appearances

and numerous pilgrimagesthat were made to MontSaint-Michelduringtimes of epidemicattest to a widespreadbeliefin his abilityto intercedeagainstdisease.74 The patients at the H6tel-Dieu in Beaune were not able to travel to Mont-Saint-Michelto ask for St Michael's protection, but they could gaze on his figure abovethe altarof the chapeleverytime the immediately was altarpiece opened.Like SaintsAnthonyand Sebastian on the exteriorof the polyptych,the archangeloffered the patients the hope that they would overcome their physicalills. But St Michael also helped alleviate their spiritualanxieties.As the centralfocus of the Last Judgment,his image assured both the donors and the patientsin the wardthathe wouldlead them to Paradise as promisedin the RequiemMass.

QUEENS COLLEGE

FLUSHING, NEW YORK

68 "...signifersanctusMichael repraesentet eas in lucem sanctam: quamolim Abrahaepromisistiet seminiejus;"Missal,cit. (note 50), p. 234*. Among those who have cited this passageas proofof Michael's functionas the guardianof the dead are du Broc de Segange,op. cit. (note 28), vol. I, p. 339; K. Escher, "Die Engel am franzosischen Grabmaldes Mittelaltersund ihreBeziehungenzur Liturgie,"Repertorium'fur Kunstwissenschaft 35 (I912), p. IIo; Mile, op. cit. (note 67),

p. 378; Fournee, op. cit. (note 6I), p. 75; and M. Baudot, "Saint cit. (note 6I), p. 27. Michel dansla liturgiechretienne,"in Millenaire, For the beginningof the Offertory, see note 53 above. Michael,Dei nuntius pro animabusius69 "AngelusArchangelus cit. (note49), vol. 3, pp. 1597and 1598. tis;"Hoursof theDivineOffice, See also S.W. Lawley, (ed.), Breviariumad usuminsignisecclesiae vol. 2 (Publicationsof the SurteesSociety, vol. 75), DurEboracensis, ham 1883, p. 583. For this and similar passagesin the Office of 29 September,see Fournee,op. cit. (note 6I), p. 70. 70 "ArchangeleMichael, constitui te principemsuper omnes animas suscipiendas;" Hoursof theDivine Office, cit. (note 49), vol. 3, pp. 1583 and 1604, and "ArchangelusMichael praepositusparadisi;"

ibid., p. 1595.See also Lawley,op. cit. (note 69), pp. 587 and 58o. For additional fifteenth-centuryprayers emphasizing this theme, see Escher,op. cit. (note 68), pp. 111-12. bk. vii, ch. xii, pt. iv; Rational, officiorum, 71 Rationaledivinorum cit. (note 65), p. 56. 72 For Michaelas the patronsaintof Brussels,see esp. M. Martens, "Le culte de Saint Michel en Belgique,"in Millinaire,cit. (note 6i), pp. 429-30. 73 On the cult of St Michaelin this period,see M. Baudot,"Diffusion et evolutiondu culte de Saint-Michelen France,"in Millenaire, cit. (note 6i), pp. 1o7-o8, and M. de Waha, "Le dragon terrasse, in Saint Michelet sa symbolique, themetriomphaldepuisConstantin," BrusselsI979, pp. 81-94. 74 One such pilgrimageoccurredduring an epidemicof 1441-42, of the hospitalat Beaune;seeJ. beforeRolin'sfoundation immediately et de pastoureaux au croisades Delalande,Les extraordinaires d'enfants dge,Paris I962, p. 84, and E.R. Labande,"Les pelerinagesau moyen mont Saint-Michel pendantle moyen age," in Millenaire,cit. (note 6i), p. 246.