Revelation of St. John: The Woman Clothed with the Sun

The influential German Renaissance master Albrecht Dürer created Revelation of St. John: The Woman Clothed with the Sun as a foundational piece of his renowned Apocalypse series. This powerful work is executed using the demanding technique of the woodcut, showcasing Dürer’s unparalleled skill in detailed line work and dramatic composition. Although the original plates were first published in 1498, Dürer reissued the entire series, including this monumental sheet, in 1511, further cementing his reputation as the premier printmaker of his era across Germany.

The complex imagery is drawn directly from the Book of Revelation (Chapter 12), depicting the Woman, a symbol often identified with the Virgin Mary or the Church, standing atop the crescent moon and arrayed in celestial light. Below her, a terrifying seven-headed, ten-horned dragon looms, prepared to devour the infant Christ child immediately upon its birth. Dürer’s composition balances the divine protection afforded to the Woman against the brutal threat of the beast. The high contrast inherent in the woodcut medium effectively heightens the tension, emphasizing the struggle between good and evil that characterized much of Northern Renaissance theology.

Dürer’s visual interpretations of the Book of Revelation were widely disseminated throughout Europe, helping to establish the artistic and communicative power of prints during a period of intense religious fervor. Works such as this solidified the medium's importance for the mass sharing of complex theological narratives. This exceptional print is held in the comprehensive collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, representing a pivotal moment in the history of graphic arts. Today, high-resolution images of Dürer’s masterful woodcuts are frequently made available through public domain initiatives for academic study.