Why did Medieval churches often contain Doom Paintings?

1. Going to
Heaven...
...or Hell
By Mr. Humphreys
www.learnhistory.org.uk

2. Medieval
Churches
were full of
pictures
and images.
Especially of
Heaven and
Hell!
Saved from Hell’s Mouth!

3. They were
often very
detailed...
...and cruel!
What can you
see here?

4. Visions of the
Mouth of Hell
were popular
across
Europe

5. Jesus usually
featured in the
centre of the
mural.

6. These ‘Doom’ paintings were often over arches
so all the congregation would see them.

7. Or carved into stone or ivory...

8. Most Doom Paintings were painted
over by Protestants
when the Church split in the
1500s and 1600s.
Thousands of murals were lost.

9. There’s a great one in a nearby
church
Chaldon in
Surrey

10. St. Peter and St. Paul
Church
in Chaldon dates back
over a thousand years to
Saxon times.

11. In the Victorian times (1800s)
workers uncovered a Doom Painting
that dated back to the 12th Century

12. On your copy of the Chaldon
Doom Painting – label the
following things...

13. Things to find
• murderers being • a drunken pilgrim with
boiled in a pot his wine bottle
• a money lender • a dog biting a woman
burning while he who pampered her
counts his gold pets while folk starved
• a bridge of spikes for • Christ defeating the
dishonest tradesmen devil
• demons pulling • angels helping people
people off Jacob’s up the ladder
ladder • St. Michael weighing
people’s goodness

15. Writing task
I labelled a picture which showed....
I learnt from this picture that people
in the Medieval times believed that...
If I was a peasant looking at the
picture I would have felt...
These pictures are useful for learning
about....