Thinking of the Ends of Things: The Porch as a Location of Morality and Mortality in the Late Medieval Wall Paintings of Rymättylä Church

Abstract

In this article I analyse the late medieval wall paintings in Rymättylä
Church (Finland), dated 1514. I focus on the wall paintings in the
porch and the large Last Judgement painting on the east wall of the
nave. The porch, considered a liminal zone, serves as a transitional
area that marks the boundary between the secular outside world and
the sacred interior of the church. I argue that the morality motifs
and the Mother of Mercy motif depicted in the wall paintings in
the porch prepared the viewers to enter the church and see the Last
Judgement scene in the nave. The themes of bad morals and mercy
in the images of the porch played an important role in reinforcing
the passion history of Christ and the salvation of the soul at the Last
Judgement. Via images, the porch played a crucial role in reinforcing
the shared Christian worldview, as individuals passing through it
symbolically renew their commitment to this worldview. Drawing
on the theories of liminality, as well as art historian Paul Binski’s ideas
on cathedral portals, the article situates the porch within the
broader context of medieval art, highlighting the societal functions
of images therein.