As it turns out, and maybe obviously enough, it has not been the most 'mainstream' source of inspiration over the centuries so I expect we'll be able to make a fairly focused study. I also suspect my beloved Doré will not be too far away.
Looking over the Easter Sunday Mass readings themselves, one obvious thing is that the verses are not continuous, they pick bits and pieces from different chapters and visions. By way of a list of what we've heard and what is yet to come we have:
- 2nd Sunday of Easter: Chapter 1:9-13, 17-19
- 3rd Sunday of Easter: Chapter 5:11-14
- 4th Sunday of Easter: Chapter 7:9,14-17
- 5th Sunday of Easter: Chapter 21:1-5
- 6th Sunday of Easter: Chapter 21:10-14, 22-23
And then we hit the Feast of the Ascension and we are back to Epistle readings. These readings from The Book of Revelation include some of the most well known scenes of the book: the vision of the seven candlesticks, the new Jerusalem, and the adoration of the Lamb. Of course it misses out a great deal too so I also expect to use these readings as a starting point for delving further into some of the narrative that we miss just taking the readings.
We can also cast an eye over how the Book appears in readings of the major feasts throughout the year. As we'd expect you don't hear the Book of Revelation too often - though it does play a very striking role in the Mass for the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the famous scene of The Woman and the Dragon.
The Book of Revelation also sometimes appears again at the very end of the year, at the Feast of Christ the King:
We can also cast an eye over how the Book appears in readings of the major feasts throughout the year. As we'd expect you don't hear the Book of Revelation too often - though it does play a very striking role in the Mass for the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the famous scene of The Woman and the Dragon.
The Osma Beatus codex
The Book of Revelation also sometimes appears again at the very end of the year, at the Feast of Christ the King:
Behold, he is coming amid the clouds,
and every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him.
(Revelation 1:7)
(Revelation 1:7)
Recalling both Daniel 7:13 and Matthew 24:30 (in which Jesus Himself recalls the verse from Daniel) summoning the image of universal kingship
Anyway our interest is going to be in how this collection of scenes fit into the narrative of St John's apocalypse and how this story has been taken up, particularly in Medieval as well as later artwork. In particular I expect we shall come across many gems, as we hit some of the less familiar parts of the book - frogs anyone?
As you can see the rather striking images I've chosen for this first post have all come from a collection of medieval codices of Beatus of Liébana's Commentary on the Apocalypse, which will come up repeatedly as a wonderful source of Medieval images of the apocalypse. However I'm eventually hoping to discuss a range of sources, across a number of eras. From these Medieval codices and the Bamberg apocalyspe, featuring for example St John's vision of the seven candlesticks:
right up to considerably later interpretations, for instance from Dürer's apocalypse (Revelation 4:1-10, 5:1-8):
Anyway, I've certainly got plenty to learn, so I had best get started!
the one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship;
all peoples, nations, and languages serve him.
Anyway our interest is going to be in how this collection of scenes fit into the narrative of St John's apocalypse and how this story has been taken up, particularly in Medieval as well as later artwork. In particular I expect we shall come across many gems, as we hit some of the less familiar parts of the book - frogs anyone?
The Osma Beatus codex
As you can see the rather striking images I've chosen for this first post have all come from a collection of medieval codices of Beatus of Liébana's Commentary on the Apocalypse, which will come up repeatedly as a wonderful source of Medieval images of the apocalypse. However I'm eventually hoping to discuss a range of sources, across a number of eras. From these Medieval codices and the Bamberg apocalyspe, featuring for example St John's vision of the seven candlesticks:
Anyway, I've certainly got plenty to learn, so I had best get started!
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