Christ in Majesty
Christ in Majesty or Christ in Glory (Latin: Maiestas Domini)[1] is the Western Christian image of Christ seated on a throne as ruler of the world, always seen frontally in the centre of the composition, and often flanked by other sacred figures, whose membership changes over time and according to the context. The image develops from Early Christian art, as a depiction of the Heavenly throne as described in 1 Enoch, Daniel 7, and The Apocalypse of John. In the Byzantine world, the image developed slightly differently into the half-length Christ Pantocrator, "Christ, Ruler of All", a usually unaccompanied figure, and the Deesis, where a full-length enthroned Christ is entreated by Mary and St. John the Baptist, and often other figures. In the West, the evolving composition remains very consistent within each period until the Renaissance, and then remains important until the end of the Baroque, in which the image is ordinarily transported to the sky.
Old reproduction of the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, with a Traditio Legis
Christ in Majesty, in a mandorla and surrounded by the tetramorph, Romanesque fresco, apse of Sant Climent de Taüll, Catalonia, 1123
Christ in Majesty with the symbols of the Evangelists, stone relief, south portal, Benedictine monastery at Innichen, South Tyrol
Maiestas Domini page from Codex Amiatinus (fol. 796v), Firenze, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana
Crucifix with Christ in Majesty; anonymous; 12th century
The tympanum at Westminster Cathedral showing Christ in Majesty with the Virgin Mary and Saints; a mosaic by Robert Anning Bell after drawings by John Francis Bentley, 1916
Christ in Glory depicted on a large tapestry in Coventry Cathedral, designed by Graham Sutherland and completed in 1962
