Original woodcut from the Large Passion; The Apocalypse, which is considered to be one of Dürer's greatest printmaking achievements of 15 woodcuts on the Revelations of St. John, this being the last sheet. Trimmed edges, image approx. 15-3/8" x 11" (38.1 cm x 27.94cm). Backed loosely with white paper and tacked down at the margins, floated on cream silk mat with gold liner, in a black wood frame, overall approx. 23" x 18-3/4".
This image combines the incarceration of Satan and Jerusalem being identified. While Satan is forced by an angel into a hole in the ground that is to be closed up forever, another angel is pointing the road out to St. John in a scene behind them. He is supposed to rebuild the abandoned, half ruined city that is being guarded by angels - in the context of the general expectation, in about 1500, that the last days had come, this can be interpreted as a symbol of the Holy Roman Empire. The flock of birds diving towards them is a reference to the part of the text in which the angels order the birds to gather to eat the bodies (Rev. 19:17).
700/1,500 Sold $2,213.75
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