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

A work made of blockbook woodcut hand-colored with brush, stencil and watercolor with additions in pen and brown ink on ivory laid paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of blockbook woodcut hand-colored with brush, stencil and watercolor with additions in pen and brown ink on ivory laid paper.

Date:

1460/70

Artist:

Artist unknown
German, 15th century

About this artwork

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

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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