The beginning and the end: Creation and Last Judgment, or big bang and gravitational collapse?
Step by step, science has gradually explained away the phenomena of the universe which were the cause of spiritual
faith in one form or another of most of humankind. But the remaining imponderable has always been the beginning
and the end of the planet and of the universe. Philosophical, theological and scientific explanations abound but
comparative analysis of visual images of the beginning and end, produced at different times by various cultures,
has seldom been explored.
The account of 'the beginning' in Genesis I has inspired countless visual interpretations of the creation of the
universe, varying from the mosaic cycle in St Mark's to the works of William Blake or Brancusi's 'egg.' Similarly,
images of 'the end' range from traditional Last Judgment scenes and apocalyptic images founded on the Book of Revelation,
to modern interpretations of 'spacescapes,' black holes and final collapse. While 'the beginning' was, in many
cultures, taken to indicate the beginning of the universe, of the planet and of mankind (often regarded as somewhat
synonymous), 'the end' appears more often to be concerned with the end of self/the species or the planet. The end
of the Universe itself seems scarcely within the realm of possibility and thus not a matter of concern but, at
the beginning of the third millennium of the Christian era, our planet appears threatened like never before, giving
rise to real concern about its destruction by the very beings which inhabit it rather than by any exterior force
(deity, stray comet, or collapse).