The Apocalyptic Woman
The Sun and the Moon as the central motif, with the Serpent and the Dragon and the Angel and the Wing 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 woman crowned with stars, radiant with the sun, the crescent moon under her feet, the dragon beneath; pairs with the Flamel Virgin on the crescent, by eye. By eye
Readings quoted
Apocalypse 12:1, “A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.”
Apocalypse 12:3, “And behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns and on his heads seven diadems.”
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.
Gold, the perfected metal, and the illuminated intellect. The most overloaded symbol in the tradition.
By eye The central motif, the light she stands in, and the crescent under her feet.
Apocalypse 12:1 “A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.”
No entry yet for this motif. The wall gathers every work that carries it.
By eye A secondary motif, the dragon at the right, its seven crowned heads.
Apocalypse 12:3 “And behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns and on his heads seven diadems.”
No entry yet for this motif. The wall gathers every work that carries it.
By eye A secondary motif, the angels in the clouds above her.
Symbolica The twelfth chapter names no angels at this moment, only the woman and the dragon; the angels above are Dürer's. Observed on the print, and left unread rather than guessed.
Also carrying the Sun and the Moon
15 works, 5 with it as the central motif. The symbol.
Also carrying the Serpent and the Dragon
10 works. The symbol.
Also carrying the Angel and the Wing
15 works. The symbol.
By the same hand
In the same series
Record
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