Bible in art · Revelation

The Beast with Seven Heads and the Beast with Lamb’s Horns

Dürer · c. 1496–98
The Cleveland Museum of Art

Dürer cut this sheet of the Apocalypse around 1496–98; the museum dates this impression to the same years.

Below, a crowd bows to the seven-headed beast from the sea, while on the left the second beast — a lion-like creature with a ram’s curling horns — brings streams of fire down from the clouds. Above, a crowned figure with a sickle sits on a cloud, and angels with sickles fly in.

From the text

A beast with seven heads and ten horns, worshipped by the people (Revelation 13:1–4)
Another beast with “two horns like a lamb”, who makes fire come down from heaven (Revelation 13:11–13)
One like the Son of Man on a white cloud, with a golden crown and a sharp sickle (Revelation 14:14)

The artist’s own

The second beast drawn like a lion with ram’s horns
Worshippers in the dress of Dürer’s day

Details

On the cloud

A crowned figure sits on a cloud, a sickle in his hand.

The second beast

A shaggy lion-like creature with curling ram’s horns.

The first beast

Seven heads of different beasts, some crowned.

The crowd

Kneeling and standing people turn towards the beasts.

Albrecht Dürer, German, 1471–1528. The Cleveland Museum of Art (Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland in honor of William Mathewson Milliken, 1959.6) · Woodcut · Cleveland Museum of Art Open Access: Collection API record "share_license_status": "CC0" (Creative Commons Zero, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/).

The verses

Rev 13:1–4Then I saw a beast with ten horns and seven heads rising out of the sea. There were ten royal crowns on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. The beast I saw was like a leopard, with the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. One of the heads of the beast appeared to be mortally wounded. But the mortal wound was healed, and the whole world marveled and followed the beast. They worshiped the dragon who had given authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can wage war against it?”

Rev 13:11–13Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. This beast had two horns like a lamb, but spoke like a dragon. And this beast exercised all the authority of the first beast and caused the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed. And the second beast performed great signs to cause even fire from heaven to come down to earth in the presence of the people.

Rev 14:14–17And I looked and saw a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was One like the Son of Man, with a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. Then another angel came out of the temple, crying out in a loud voice to the One seated on the cloud, “Swing Your sickle and reap, because the time has come to harvest; for the crop of the earth is ripe.” So the One seated on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested. Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.

See it at the museum’s site