Peter Paul Rubens
Helene Fourment in Her Bridal Gown, um 1630/31
Eichenholz, 163,5 x 136,9 cm
Erworben 1698 durch Kurfürst Max Emanuel
Inv. Nr. 340
The Great Last Judgement
Christ appears to judge humankind. The tombs are open, the dead have arisen and await their separation into those who are blessed and those who are damned (Mat. 24 and 25). This painting was commissioned by Duke Wolfgang Wilhelm of Pfalz-Neuburg for the high altar of the Jesuit church in Neuburg an der Donau; the nudity it contains met with general disapproval. As a result the painting remained in its church location - sometimes covered - for only a few decades. In 1692 it was moved to the Düsseldorf Gallery.