A Biblical Representation of the Earth: The Earth at the Center of the Celestial Spheres

In antiquity, the world was conceived as a set of interlocking spheres centred on a round Earth made up of the four elements. This conception persisted into the Middle Ages, but was adapted to Christian beliefs by making God the supreme being of this spherical universe.
This illumination, which closes Gossuin de Metz's Image of the World, a popular work written in French in the 13th century, represents creation in a synthetic way. At the center of this set of concentric spheres is the Earth, beneath which yawns the mouth of hell. Above, the four elements (earth, water, air, fire), on which rise the heavenly spheres of the ethereal world, completed by the unapproachable kingdom of God. A majestic Christ dominates the ensemble and gives the world his blessing.