Christ appears in the clouds his arms outspread separating the good from the bad for all eternity. The lily and the sword held by the angels at the very top are symbols of salvation and damnation. Pieter Pourbus turns the entire episode into a single dramatic ensemble with few details to suggest the social rank of the figures and without anecdotal elements like the gates of heaven or the burning mouth of hell. Together these factors make the composition all more imposing.
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