The Four Horsemen

Albrecht Dürer · probably c. 1496/1498
National Gallery of Art, Washington

Albrecht Dürer published his Apocalypse in Nuremberg in 1498: fifteen large woodcuts with the text of Revelation printed on the back. It was among the first books an artist designed and published himself, and it made him famous across Europe.

Here the four riders of Revelation 6 sweep across the page side by side, trampling people beneath their hooves, while an angel flies overhead.

From the text

A rider who “held a bow. And he was given a crown” (Revelation 6:2)

A rider given “a great sword” (Revelation 6:4)

A rider who “held in his hand a pair of scales” (Revelation 6:5)

“Its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed close behind” (Revelation 6:8)

The artist’s own

All four riders at once, though the text has them come one after another

Death as a bony old man with a trident on a starving horse

Hades as the jaws of a monster, as medieval art drew the mouth of hell

Riders in the clothes and hats of Dürer’s Germany

Details

The crowned archer

Farthest right, a rider with a crown draws his bow.

The great sword

A rider swings a long sword high over his head.

The scales

An outstretched hand holds up a pair of scales.

Death

A gaunt old man with a trident rides a bony horse.

Hades

The open jaws of a monster swallow a crowned man.

The angel

An angel flies above the riders among the clouds.

Albrecht Dürer, German, 1471–1528. National Gallery of Art, Washington (Ferdinand Lammot Belin Fund and William Nelson Cromwell Fund, 1979.39.1) · Woodcut on laid paper · NGA Open Access: "Images of these works are available free of charge for any use, commercial or non-commercial, under Creative Commons Zero (CC0)." (NGA open data: published_images.csv openaccess = 1)

The verses

Rev 6:1–8Then I watched as the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say in a thunderous voice, “Come!” So I looked and saw a white horse, and its rider held a bow. And he was given a crown, and he rode out to overcome and conquer. And when the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” Then another horse went forth. It was bright red, and its rider was granted permission to take away peace from the earth and to make men slay one another. And he was given a great sword. And when the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” Then I looked and saw a black horse, and its rider held in his hand a pair of scales. And I heard what sounded like a voice from among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine.” And when the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” Then I looked and saw a pale green horse. Its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed close behind. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill by sword, by famine, by plague, and by the beasts of the earth.