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Right, The Martyrs, Detail
The arms of Jesus extend openly, embracing the mass of humanity below.
His symmetrical, balanced figure conveys his Lordship. He seems to ges-
ture to the archangels, having them refrain from intervening in the scene
below, as they hold their powerful spears at ease. Their enormous figures
take up much of the upper quadrants, with their vast wings framing the
composition even as they flank the throne of the Most High.

The martyrs themselves form a coherent mass, connected by gesture and
gaze. Here we see tremendous unity among those who suffer in solidari-
ty for their beliefs. Upon closer examination of the crowd of souls, each
reacts differently to the suffering experienced in the front row. Some are
perturbed, especially the face in the bottom right corner, and many brows
draw together in sorrow and apprehension. To the right we see an arched
doorway, through which a figure with his back to us passes away from this temporal life, entering the
presence of God.

As in Raphael’s masterpiece, gestures and upturned faces connect the two halves of the picture. Goethe
wrote persuasively of the integrated nature of Raphael’s Transfiguration, and his words also apply to the
compositional choices by Omiros.

As Goethe asserted, “The two are one: below suffering, need, above, effective power, succor. Each bear-
ing on the other, both interacting with one another.”

Comparably, in The Last Judgment, Omiros again
masters a composition with tiered Biblical scenes in the
same painting with its churning mass of figures and lay-
ers of action that immediately brings to mind The Last
Judgment by Michelangelo. Omiros also alludes to Tin-
toretto, El Greco and others in his sweeping declaration
of our ultimate fate.

Right, The Last Judgement. Acrylic on silk. On exhibit at the Atelier Omiros in Bedford, NY.

Here Omiros depicts God the Father in the upper tier
of highest Heaven, with God the Son just below, united
in their last judgment of all humanity. Next to the Fa-
ther we see a trio of saints, their golden crowns aglow,
echoing but a hint of the conflagration below. In line
with tradition, Omiros shows Christ flanked by the Vir-
gin Mary and St. John holding open the Book of Life.
Saints and angels surround them, as Jesus inclines his
gaze to the right, toward the saved souls who worship
him. Michael the archangel stands just at the feet of
Christ, holding the scales of judgment and conversing
with the horned figure of Satan.

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