Getty Museum

The Unburied Bodies of the Two Witnesses and the Rejoicing People

Date

about 1255–1260

Medium

Tempera colors, gold leaf, colored washes, pen and ink

Culture

English

Department

Manuscripts

Institution

Getty Museum

Rejoicing because the witnesses who tormented them are now dead, people dance and make merry with musical instruments. Below their feet, the witnesses' bodies lie on the ground unburied and unnoticed. Two buildings connected by a high wall suggest that the scene takes place in a town, which, as the text says "is called spiritually, Sodom and Egypt." (Apocalypse 11:8) With his hand held to his cheek in a traditional gesture of mourning, Saint John observes from the left margin.

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