19 IMAGES FROM THE 19th CENTURY: PART 4 - Death on a Pale Horse

Title: Death on a Pale Horse
Artist: J. M. W. Turner
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 59.7 x75.6 cm
Date: c. 1825-30
Location: Tate Gallery, London.

19 IMAGES FROM THE 19th CENTURY: PART 4

Revelation 6:7-9 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

Although possibly incomplete, the subject can be identified as Death, the last of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse who announce the Day of Judgment in the Book of Revelation. The choice may have been in response to the death of Turner’s father in 1829, suggested by the unusual treatment which is both tender and menacing. Death appears, not as a triumphant, upright figure astride his horse, but as a phantom emerging from a turbulent mist: his skeletal form, arms outstretched, and draped submissively over the horse’s pale back. Such disturbing visions were considered to embody the very concept of the Sublime.

Joseph Mallord William Turner (April 1775 – December 1851) was an English Romantic landscape painter, water colorist and print maker. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivaling history painting. Although renowned for his oil paintings, Turner is also one of the greatest masters of British watercolor landscape painting. As he grew older, Turner became more eccentric. He had few close friends except for his father, who lived with him for 30 years, eventually working as his studio assistant. His father's death in 1829 had a profound effect on him, and thereafter he was subject to bouts of depression.

Worship before the Throne of God

Title: Worship before the Throne of God

Artist: Unknown

Medium: Illuminated Manuscript

Size: 29.5 x 20.4 cm

Date: c. 1020

Location: Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek, MS A. II. 42

The Book of Revelation, also called the Revelation of St. John, the Apocalypse of John, is considered to be one of the most controversial and difficult books of the Bible, with many diverse interpretations of the various names and events in the account. In the fourth century, Gregory of Nazianzus and other bishops argued against including this book in the New Testament canon, chiefly because of the difficulties of interpreting it and the danger for abuse. Regardless, Revelation was a powerful message of hope for those early Christians who had to suffer or die for their faith.

The entire 4th chapter of Revelation is a vision of the throne room of God. God is the chief and primary subject in view pictured as being seated on a throne. The language describing Him paints a picture of glory, power, and majesty: “the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne.” Various heavenly creatures and retainers praised God as flashes of lightning and roars of thunder came out from the throne.

The Bamberg Apocalypse is a richly illuminated manuscript containing the Book of Revelation, and a Gospel Lectionary containing lessons from the Gospels for use in liturgy. The Bamberg Apocalypse was commissioned by Otto III, and is among the most marvelous illuminated medieval manuscripts and the only illustrated cycle of the Apocalypse produced by Ottonian book painting. The leading scriptorium of the empire endowed the manuscript with imperial luxury: 57 miniatures on gilded ground and over 100 golden initials ornate its 106 leafs. After the early and unexpected death of the emperor at the age of 21, the codex remained unfinished for some time in the scriptorium of Reichenau before his successor Henry II ordered the manuscript to be finished.