St John Devouring the Book, 1498
Series title originalApocalipsis cum figuris (Blatt 8)
Series titleApocalypse (sheet 8)
MediumWoodcut
Sheet dimensions39 × 28,3 cm
About the workAs chronicled in the Bible, John the Seer received a vision of God’s plan for the destruction and restoration of the world. In the “Book of Revelation” or the “Apocalypse of John”, the author mentions that an angel appeared to him during his stay on the island of Patmos. The Nuremberg artist Albrecht Dürer depicted this angel as “clothed in clouds” in accordance with the text. Hitherto unprecedented in the medium of the woodcut, the fineness of line here is also found in Dürer’s other images of the Apocalypse, which he produced for a new edition of the book.
AccessionCollection of the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
Provenance[…]; seit 1932 Dauerleihgabe der Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
Inventory numberKA (FP) 1984 D
