Cleveland Museum of Art

Revelation of St. John: St. Michael fighting the Dragon

Albrecht Dürer

Date

1511

Medium

woodcut

Culture

Germany

Department

Prints

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This woodcut comes from a series of 15 scenes from the Apocalypse. Dürer drew upon late northern Gothic traditions infused with the reality of spiritual events, biblical interpretation, and dense composition, as well as careful attention to naturalistic details of flora and fauna. He interprets Saint John’s visions by giving them a convincing physical existence. This scene depicts the war in heaven, a final battle between good and evil. Saint Michael and his angels defeat the dragon (Satan) and the other fallen angels, now morphed into repulsive demons, casting them into hell.

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