The Orvieto Cathedral has been called “a masterpiece of Italian Gothic architecture” and “the most beautiful church in the world.” Its façade, carved in the 1320s, has been called “The Bible in Stone.” One of the most amazing accomplishments among the many art pieces in the Orvieto Cathedral spanning three centuries is the the Apocalypse of Luca Signorelli.
In a chapel depicting “The Final Times” is a large painting of “The Preaching of the Antichrist” which spoke deeply to me. A commentary says: While he will seem to bring salvation to the world by promoting himself as an enlightened leader and guide, in reality he is simply the animated puppet used by Satan to carry out his plan.
Placed on a pedestal, the features of the Antichrist are a semblance of Christ, but his gaze appears sinister and disturbing, his eyes crossed. The curls of his hair suggest horns, like those of a meek lamb before becoming a warlike ram. His left arm points weakly downward, merging with the arm of the demon whispering in his ear; with this right arm he points to himself as though proclaiming himself God and calling me to follow him (Thess 2:4). Thus, behind a false appearance, he will be the bearer of a diabolical machination aimed at overthrowing the world, confirming himself and, with the charm of his charism and the grandiosity of his work, convincing many to become his disciples. *
When I first stared at this very large painting, and caught its title, my first response was: “It reminds me of Trump.” This fellow has lots of people listening to him while he listens to the devil whispering in his ear. There is violence in the crowd and menacing forces slinking about in the background. Above all, he is pointing to himself, “only I can save you,” only I can “be your revenge,” he seems to be saying. Chaos is on the horizon.
Sigmund Freud was so taken by this painting that he actually moved to Orvieto to live there in order to study the painting in greater depth. In doing so, he was also taken with the other large paintings in the chapel, one of them begun by Fra Angelico called “The Resurrection of the Flesh” and another of “The Judgment Day.” These paintings also inspired Michelangelo and were themselves inspired by Dante’s depiction of heaven, hell and purgatory.
*The Duomo of Orvieto and the Apocalypse of Luca Signorelli by Mirabilia Orvieto, 2023, pp. 10, 8, 59.
See Matthew Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society.
Banner Image: Duomo di Orvieto. Photo by Matthew Fox, used with permission.
Queries for Contemplation
The Anti-Christ archetype arises at various moments in history. Do you see it relevant to our times and to an upcoming presidential election?
Recommended Reading
Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society
Visionary theologian and best-selling author Matthew Fox offers a new theology of evil that fundamentally changes the traditional perception of good and evil and points the way to a more enlightened treatment of ourselves, one another, and all of nature. In comparing the Eastern tradition of the 7 chakras to the Western tradition of the 7 capital sins, Fox allows us to think creatively about our capacity for personal and institutional evil and what we can do about them.
“A scholarly masterpiece embodying a better vision and depth of perception far beyond the grasp of any one single science. A breath-taking analysis.” — Diarmuid O’Murchu, author of Quantum Theology: Spiritual Implications of the New Physics
8 thoughts on “Antichrist Image in Orvieto Cathedral: Archetype For Our Times?”
Follow me and I’ll make you hangers of Pense! Drumpf 1-6-21
Yes, the Anti-Christ archetype is a very powerful negative spirit that has been especially alive in authoritarian figures in contemporary times such as Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Putin, and Trump who have had (and some continue to have) powerful charismatic personalities yet extremely destructive influences on humanity. There are many reasons why humanity continues to be vulnerable to their powerful destructive influences and cult attraction and behavior, but mainly they’re related to unconscious ignorance and not being fully consciously aware of their own deeper Faith and identity as Spiritual Beings and valuable sacred evolving parts of Our Loving Living Source Creator Spirit of Loving Diverse Wholeness~Oneness in Our Evolving COSMOS~OMNIVERSE….
Yes, it is relevant. If I believed in a single, embodied Anti-Christ, I would say that Trump is he. I don’t. I believe the caution against “the” Anti-Christ is a metaphor. I believe we are told to beware of Anti-Christs plural because they do and will continue to arise throughout history. Every single characteristic of an Anti-Christ that I have read of belongs to this man, and I struggle to understand how anyone calling themself a Christian can follow him. Only when I read the characteristics of a fascist regime does it make any sense, and those behind Trump have used those characteristics as if the characteristics make up a how-to-book. All this being said, I still understand that at some hidden core there is the spark of God even in Trump. Sadly, it has been covered by so much internal pain and psychosis that I cannot believe that spark will ever ignite.
Well said. I decided a long time ago that there were certain people who were impervious to any human attempt to reach them, and only God’s direct action would heal them. I do pray for him and for other despots; if nothing else, that softens my heart and reminds me that every single person, even those who seem the worst, bears the image or spark of God–and that every one of us is capable, given the right (or wrong) circumstances, of utter darkness and depravity–at least, I am. It may be reaching, but I think of Paul, who was a murderer of people of the Way before his conversion.
For many years, I have thought of Trump as an anti-christ. It is of little solace that you see the same thing. The most frightening thing is how many people buy into his very frightening rhetoric. I work every day to clear my own demons so Divine Light can flow through me and into the world. Every ray of Light helps!
Trump is a psychopathic conman who thrives on cheating and getting away with breaking every law and norm.
He believes he’s a genius who’s entitled to get whatever he wants.
For decades, he’s been using legal maneuvering as both weapon and shield. He’s still stiffing his contractors (including lawyers), using any asinine pretext he can think of. Then he buries their lawsuits with delaying tactics he can afford but they cannot.
Now he’s showing signs of SENILITY (nonsense sounds, glitching,, sundowning, confusing crucial names and facts).
WHY is he still “running strong?”
He’s an avatar of rage who’s being used as a human virus to infect and destroy democracy from within. He re-directs peoples’ anger, shielding from view those who pay for his “presidential show”
The Heritage Foundation, Putin, the ultra-wealthy elite, and multinational corporations — THEY are the “Trump-power,” paying for his campaign while feeding THEIR ideas into his deteriorating brain so he can claim/work them into his wildly popular stage show (rage-entertainment masquerading as presidential race).
His cult loves the shock value, the in-your-face “owning the libs.” of every word he says.
His investors love his…usefulness.
Thank you for this insight, about this work of art, illustrating the problem of evil. I stood there, and saw those ninja warriors in the background, too, and wondered what else was going on, causing chaos and destruction. I did not get it, that the speaker was simply a life-sized puppet, broadcasting the whispers of the devil in his ear. I DID see that he was pointing to himself not toward heaven, nor with any evidence of humility. And he did not seem to be gathering people to himself. Today we had the Gospel of the good fruit from the good tree; and “beware of the ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing”. One of the people in the Lectio Divina group spoke of the need to be connected to the vine, to produce fruit at all. And another spoke of the need to allow for ripening, for good fruit to BE good, to taste good. I really love both of these insights! And we hear “By their fruit you will know them”, which should help us be able to tell the difference between the false prophets and the real ones. Who connects us to God, to our neighbors, in a communitarian way, which brings peace, harmony, well-being? We can sure feel the ravenous wolves in the corporate world, scarfing up billions of dollars as they plunder the Earth. NO FRUIT. Poisoned land, dry rivers, no water. VOTE! We have to turn this around, and it will take all of us working together. The multinational corporations have so much power, it will be a miracle, if we can reduce their power.
Absolutely. The so called “ debate” showed that the Father of Lies (Satan) is present. It showed a slick, sinister, anti humanity convicted felon and rapist disguised as a quick talking con man who looked strong but was hateful in what he said.