The Antichrist as a Three Headed Tyrant

Stephanie CasellaCathie BiancoJillian Busch

Hildegard of Bingen

German religious teacher, prophetess, and abbess. Hildegard was one of the first to interpret the beast in the Book of Revelation as the Antichrist, a figure whose rise to power would parallel Christ's own life, but in a demonic form. For Hildegard, the source of the Antichrist's evil power lay in Judaism, and thus she is also credited with being a literary source of anti-Judaism, which might be the reason the Jewish scholar in Mainz visited her numerous times challenging her on the Old Testament.

The image is of Hildegard in the scriptorium in the process of receiving a divine message while sketching on a wax tablet

2:22. Who is a liar, but he who denieth that Jesus is the Christ? This is Antichrist, who denieth the Father and the Son.

A specific name is not given in the Bible in regards to the Antichrist.

Three apocalyptic beasts: •The Beast•The Dragon•The False Prophet

Characteristics of the Antichrist:

•White eyelashes•Head covered in dung•Sickle shaped hands/fingers•Bloodshot eyes•Pointed hair•Gigantic teeth•Huge stature •Double skull •According to some accounts leftgreen foot prints after walking around

– Appeared in Christian art– Thirteenth century, antichrist was often

represented as a three headed tyrant – Trinity

• Two major groups of antichrist manuscript portrayals as well as minor ones were created in the period beginning at the end of the twelfth century

• Moralized bibles (La Bible Moralisée)• Rich in antichrist imagery• Originally made for the French royal family

about 1220 and 1235• Old and New Testament episodes

-Harley Manuscripts-Robert Harley and

Edward Harley-Library located in London

Antichrist as a Three Headed Tyrantfrom the Harley Manuscript fol. 127r 1527 British Library, London

Vellum(?)

Comparison•From the Court School of Charlemagne, Christ Blessing

•From the Godescalc Gospels (also known as the Evangelistary) Lat. 1203, foli 3r

•Text written in gold and silver on vellum

•Measures 12x8 1/4

Similarities

•Depiction of a foot protruding out of the picture toward the viewer•Religious purposes

•Both contain obscure architecture in the background•Both are from religious manuscripts (both are folios)

Differences• Christ Blessing is a depiction of Christ holding a book in his left hand and

giving the sign of the blessing with his right, backed by a halo with the cross in it, The Antichrist as a Three-headed Tyrant depicts the Antichrist in the guise of the holy trinity, with a demon helping him to lure Christians to follow his ways

• Christ Blessing was meant to glorify Christ, Whereas The Antichrist as a Three-headed Tyrant was more than likely used to warn against the coming of evil

• Visually, the border styles differ and speak to the differing time periods (interlacing from Christ Blessing are typical of byzantine art, which differs from the Gothic art of The Antichrist)

• Christ Blessing shows a full frontal depiction of Christ, The Antichrist… only shows one of the faces of the three-headed tyrant as full frontal