Different Confessions, Different Visions of Heaven?

The visual programme of The Adoration of the Lamb of God is composed of two parts separated by a blanket of clouds at the middle. The upper part is a consequent, but not entirely faithful, visualisation of the so-called "throne room vision" as described in Revelation 4 and 5. The Lamb is also the subject of the heavenly worship by the elders, creatures, all the angels and the 144,000, all of whom gathered at the foot of Mount Zion to adore the Lamb. Thus, the appearance of the Lamb is the culmination of the vision, the very essence and centre point of every praise, of the entire heavenly gathering and of the composition itself. The most important observation might, to a certain degree, appear unsatisfying: the reception of The Adoration of the Lamb, a beeldmotet by Winghe and Sadeler, is in its individual expressions so diverse that it is challenging to outline its universally characteristic features.