The Lamb Receiving the Sealed Book, folio C from The Apocalypse

Prints and Drawings

1460/70

Artist unknown
German, 15th century

The Apocalyptic Lamb of God in the lower roundel enraged an early viewer. Perhaps inspired by the crown of seven stubby horns and the seven eyes on the Lamb’s head, this unknown individual added a cluster of four semicircles just beneath its tail. The result seems blasphemous and rather juvenile, as the shapes resemble a series of turds spewing downward. Excrement became a common theme in Germany during the Reformation due to Martin Luther’s colorful rhetoric, and frequently appeared in satirical anti-Catholic woodcuts. As the pen and ink used here suggest an early annotation, perhaps it was made during this transitional period.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Prints and Drawings

Artist: Unknown artist
Title: The Lamb Receiving the Sealed Book, folio C from The Apocalypse
Place: Germany (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1460–1470
Medium: Blockbook woodcut hand-colored with brush, stencil and watercolor with additions in pen and brown ink on ivory laid paper
Dimensions: Image/block: 25.5 × 19.5 cm (10 1/16 × 7 11/16 in.); Sheet: 27.4 × 20.8 cm (10 13/16 × 8 1/4 in.)
Credit Line: Joseph Brooks Fair Fund
Reference Number: 1939.2106
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/36063/manifest.json

Schreiber IV.173.5

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