“The Four Riders of the Apocalypse”
Now for something slightly darker…
This woodcut engraving on paper, titled “The Four Riders of the Apocalypse”, is one of the German Renaissance artist, Albrecht Dürer‘s, more famous works. It was made between 1497-1498 as a part of a series of illustrations he prepared titled The Apocalypse. This series comprises 15 woodcuts that were meant to illustrate the Book of Revelation. This piece is the fourth in the series.
The Apocalypse series was published in 1498 and made Dürer famous in his day throughout Europe and provided him with enough wealth to pursue his art on his own terms. The classical motifs that he employed intertwined with Gothic elements cemented his place in art history. As opposed to earlier Biblical illustrations, Dürer’s illustrations depict chaotic scenes filled with urgency and danger. It was published in both German and Latin. He published a second edition of the work in 1511.
“The Four Riders of the Apocalypse” is Dürer’s rendition of a passage from the Book of Revelation (6:1–8) in which Saint John has a vision after four seals had been opened. It reads:
“And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and its rider had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, ‘Come!’ And out came another horse, bright red; its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that men should slay one another; and he was given a great sword. When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, ‘Come!’ And I saw, and behold, a black horse, and its rider had a balance in his hand; When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, ‘Come!’ And I saw, and behold, a pale horse, and its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him; and they were given great power over a fourth of the earth; to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.”
In this piece, in the bottom left corner, Hell (or Hades) is personified as a beast with its jaws wide open consuming a man wearing a bishop’s mitre; the first of the damned human race symbolized by six figures along the bottom of the page. The riders were given permission to kill a quarter of humanity by various means. Death can be seen riding a pale horse on the very left. To his right are Famine carrying scales in his right hand, War riding out with a large sword, and Conquest on the far right wielding a bow in hand.
There are several copies of the woodcut print available for the public to view. A first edition 1498 print of “The Four Riders of the Apocalypse” is currently in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, in the United States as well as the British Museum in London, England. A second edition print from 1511 can be seen at the Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe in Karlsruhe, Germany.
For more on Albrecht Dürer, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
