Seven stars blaze in the raised hand.
Bible in art · Revelation
Revelation of St. John: St. John Beholding the Seven Candlesticks
Dürer · 1511
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Dürer cut the Apocalypse in Nuremberg around 1496–98 and published it himself in 1498: fifteen large woodcuts with the text of Revelation on the back. This sheet comes from the Latin edition of 1511 — the type on the back shows faintly through the paper.
John kneels among seven tall candlesticks. Above him the figure “like the Son of Man” sits among clouds, with stars in one hand and a sword coming from his mouth.
From the text
- “seven golden lampstands” (Revelation 1:12)
- “He held in His right hand seven stars, and a sharp double-edged sword came from His mouth” (Revelation 1:16)
- John fallen at his feet (Revelation 1:17)
The artist’s own
- The lampstands as ornate candlesticks of a goldsmith’s workshop, with burning candles
- A rainbow for a seat and an open book on his knee — the rainbow comes from a later vision (Revelation 4:3)
Details
Seven stars
The face
Rays burst round the head, and a long sword runs from the mouth.
John
John kneels in a heavy cloak, his hands joined.
A candlestick
Twisted stems, carved knots and a broad base, each with a lit candle.
Albrecht Dürer, German, 1471–1528. The Cleveland Museum of Art (Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland, 1922.94.3) · Woodcut · Cleveland Museum of Art Open Access: Collection API record "share_license_status": "CC0" (Creative Commons Zero, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/).