Picturing the Apocalypse The Book of Revelation in the Arts Over Two Millennia

Notions such as Armageddon, the Four Horsemen, the Whore of Babylon, the Millennium, the New Jerusalem, the Antichrist, the Seventh Seal, the Lamb of God and the Apocalypse itself have captured the popular imagination for two thousand years. Yet few people understand their basic meaning, let alone their original context in the Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible.This book fills the gap in a striking and original way by means ofnine concise chapter-by-chapter explanations of the key terms together with copious visual examples, which show how these themes have been understood and treated by artists through the ages. A finalchapter demonstrates the continuing resonance of all the themes in contemporary religious, political and popular thinking.Throughout we recognise that the Book of Revelation is based on a vision, experienced by a visionary. Through our 120 illustrations we show how artists through the ages have presented the elements of the text as things seen and to be seen. In doing this, we also show how many of the artists we consider have themselves have contributed to theunderstanding of the text and to the development of its meaning.