Jacobello Alberegno, Polyptych of the Apocalypse, 14th century
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Left panel (Revelation 17:3-6a): "And he took me away in spirit into the desert. And I saw a woman ![]() Alberegno suppresses details that would be difficult or ungainly to portray, such as the names on the beast and on the forehead. Still, he does get the golden cup, the seven heads, and even the ten horns. The flame (?) coming from her mouth could represent her drunkenness, or it could refer to the angel's later promise that the beast "shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her with fire" (17:16). The "xvii" at the bottom of the panel refers to chapter "17" of the Book of Revelation. View full resolution. Images photographed at the Accademia Gallery, Venice, by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license. |
Left of center (Revelation 20:11-12): "I saw a great white throne, and one sitting upon it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away, and there ![]() The dead are represented as skeletons with open books, while the "book of life" sits open on God's lap. Alberegno transmutes the text's "judged…according to their works" into a pair of contrasting scenes. In the lower left, the dead with their books burn in eternal fire; in the lower right, a smaller contingent rises from the earth like the souls in Last Judgment images. View full resolution. |
Center panel (Revelation 4:2b-7): Behold there was a throne set in heaven, and upon the throne one sitting. And![]() As in the Whore of Babylon panel, the artist suppresses details that would detract from the dignity of the scene. Still, he manages to include the 24 ancients with their white robes and crowns, the throne, and the four "living creatures," realized as the conventional symbols of the four evangelists with the books they have written. The golden mandorla does a fair job of standing in for the "lightnings, and voices, and thunders" of the text. At the bottom, St. John kneels before the throne. At his knees are his pen, ink, penknife, and book. View full resolution |
Right of center (Revelation 14:17-19): And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came ![]() The artist treats the two verses quite literally, showing us the temple from which the first angel emerges, his sickle, the second angel and his altar, and the ripe grapes below. The altar is of course imagined as a Christian eucharistic altar. The "xiiii" in the lower right corner refers to chapter "14" of the Book of Revelation. Thus we have two panels picturing the Last Judgment on either side of the central vision of heavenly glory. View full resolution. |
Right panel (Revelation 19:19): I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to make war ![]() Like the panels directly left and right of the central image, the two outer panels present a complementary vision. The "kings of the earth" shown here are the ones who in 17:2 "have had fornication" with the Whore of Babylon pictured on the opposite panel. Each panel thus focuses on the "whorishness" of this world and its rulers. View full resolution. Images photographed at the Accademia Gallery, Venice, by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license. |