"Doom Painting"

St Mary The Virgin, Earl Stonham, Suffolk

In medieval times churches were lavishly painted inside with scenes from the bible, a marked contrast to the very plane colourless walls of today’s churches. During the reformation and over the years following this, these paintings were lost, many were destroyed as plaster was removed but luckily others were simply lime washed over leaving the original artwork beneath. This was luckily the case in much of the church at Earl Stonham, where the lime wash layer has been removed revealing the painting beneath. The best of these is the large “Doom” painting above the chancel arch. The subject is the “The Last Judgement” with Christ enthroned on a rainbow. Above this are the sun and the moon with passion symbols held by arch angels. On the left side of Christ stands the Virgin Mary after whom the church is dedicated. Opposite are the gaping jaws of hell ready to receive the followers of Satan.

Originally below this painting would have sat the rood screen but this has been removed many years ago.

Earl Stonham church is open every day for visiting