The Apocalypse And The Shape Of Things To Come

The end of the second millennium is an appropriate moment to evaluate thelegacy of one of the most vivid and controversial writings in the Christiancanon the Bo... » 

The end of the second millennium is an appropriate moment to evaluate thelegacy of one of the most vivid and controversial writings in the Christiancanon the Book of Revelation. The idea of an apocalypse that was bothdestructive and redemptive provided a rich vein of visual and literary imagerythat remains a force in contemporary culture. This book examines the traditionas represented by illuminated manuscripts books prints and drawings from theeleventh century up to the end of the Second World War concentrating onparticular episodes or apocalyptic phases which have often occurred at the endof centuries and have always been rooted in historical and politicalcircumstances.The defining moment in the development of the pictorial tradition was Durersgreat Apocalypse cycle published in 1498. Apocalyptic imagery was quicklyappropriated as a vehicle for propaganda and satire becoming secularised atthe hands of artists such as the late eighteenthcentury satirist JamesGillray. Gillrays contemporary William Blake evolved a concept of Apocalypseand Judgement that responded to the millenarian currents and revolutionaryupheavals of his time.In our own century apocalyptic metaphor has been a powerful vehicle for manywriters artists and film directors to convey their visions of worldly andspiritual destruction and regeneration. «