The Last Judgment
Gherardo Starnina·1350
Historical Context
Gherardo Starnina, a Florentine painter who traveled to Spain and absorbed the International Gothic style before returning to Italy, is associated with this Last Judgment panel. Starnina's exposure to Valencian painting during his years in the Iberian Peninsula profoundly influenced his art, introducing a new coloristic brilliance and ornamental energy to Florentine painting around 1400. The Last Judgment was among the most ambitious subjects in Gothic art, requiring the artist to orchestrate vast numbers of figures across the cosmic drama of salvation and damnation.
Technical Analysis
Rendered in egg tempera on panel with gold ground, the composition follows the traditional tripartite Last Judgment scheme with Christ in Majesty flanked by the blessed and the damned. The dynamic figural treatment and rich chromatic range reflect Starnina's International Gothic sensibility.
