Angel of the Revelation (Book of Revelation, chapter 10)
The Angel and the Wing as the central motif, with the Sun and the Moon and the Heavens in a secondary part. From The Met, open access.
Key · 3 motifs
Tap a motif on the picture, or a line below. Its note opens under the line, with the reading its author gave it.
- Primary motif
- Secondary motifs · 2
The picture
The mighty angel of Revelation 10 astride sea and land, the sun behind his head, the seven thunders as horsemen; by eye. By eye
Readings quoted
Apocalypse 10:1, “And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head: and his face, as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire.”
Apocalypse 10:2, “And he had in his hand a little book, open. And he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot upon the earth.”
Decoded: every motif is marked, and each mark carries the reading its author gave it, quoted from the text, or says that it is observed on the picture and not read. The composition, the picture read whole, comes with the entry.
No entry yet for this motif. The wall gathers every work that carries it.
By eye The central motif, the angel himself, one foot on the sea and one on the land.
Apocalypse 10:1 “And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head: and his face, as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire.”
Apocalypse 10:2 “And he had in his hand a little book, open. And he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot upon the earth.”
Gold, the perfected metal, and the illuminated intellect. The most overloaded symbol in the tradition.
By eye A secondary motif, the light behind his head.
Apocalypse 10:1 “his face, as the sun”
No entry yet for this motif. The wall gathers every work that carries it.
By eye A secondary motif, the small riders in the cloud, at his knees.
Apocalypse 10:3 “And when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.”
Symbolica The text says the thunders spoke and that John was forbidden to write what they said; it does not say they were horsemen. That is Blake's, and is left unread rather than guessed.
Also carrying the Angel and the Wing
15 works, 6 with it as the central motif. The symbol.
Two Peasants Hold a Red Robe, Mercury Rests on the Water Below
The Cherub of Ezekiel
Melencolia I
Plate 43 from "Los Caprichos": The sleep of reason produces monsters (El sueño de la razon produce monstruos)
Temperance (XIV)
Judgement (XX)
The Virgin with a Dragon at Her Feet
The Hand of the Mysteries
Also carrying the Sun and the Moon
15 works. The symbol.
Also carrying the Heavens
14 works. The symbol.
By the same hand
In the same series
Record
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