A "Doom painting" or "Doom" is a traditional English term for a wall-painting of the Last Judgement in a medieval church. This is the moment in Christian eschatology when Christ judges souls to send them to either Heaven or Hell.
Detail from a medieval Doom wall-painting, St Andrew's Church, Chesterton, Cambridge, 15th century
Slay Judgement, Fra Angelico, panel painting, 1425–1430
Last Judgement, Stefan Lochner, panel painting, 1435
St Mary's Church, North Leigh, Oxfordshire, 15th century
The Last Judgment is a fresco by the Italian Renaissance painter Michelangelo covering the whole altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. It is a depiction of the Second Coming of Christ and the final and eternal judgment by God of all humanity. The dead rise and descend to their fates, as judged by Christ who is surrounded by prominent saints. Altogether there are over 300 figures, with nearly all the males and angels originally shown as nudes; many were later partly covered up by painted draperies, of which some remain after recent cleaning and restoration.
The central group around Christ