Apocalypse

What it is

This is a printed book containing fifteen woodcuts with accompanying text, made by Albrecht Dürer and published at Nuremberg in 1498 in both Latin and German. Dürer worked on it starting during his first trip to Italy and acted as its publisher and seller.

Why it matters

The book illustrates scenes from the Book of Revelation, including the famous Four Horsemen, at a time when many in Europe feared invasion and anticipated the possible end of the world around the year 1500. Dürer may have received theological guidance from Johannes Pirckheimer. The woodcuts broke from earlier, more fantastical depictions by presenting realistic figures and landscapes, and the book quickly made Dürer famous across Europe, also making him one of the first artists to publish his own work and claim a form of copyright.

Look closer

• Why do you think images were placed before the text in this book, reversing the usual order?
• What makes Dürer's figures, like the horsemen or Saint John, feel more realistic than earlier depictions of these scenes?
• Why might fears about the year 1500 have made this book especially popular with readers?