# Revelation of St. John: Title Page to the Apocalypse

Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528) · 1511 · Germany

License: CC0-1.0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) · Credit: Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland · Source: https://clevelandart.org/art/1922.94.1

## What you would see

A black-ink woodcut on a tall sheet of off-white paper, aged and visibly worn: pale stains, uneven edges, a vertical crease near the bottom center, and a creased, slightly torn upper right corner. The upper half is dominated by large Gothic lettering that reads “Apocalipsis cum figuris,” drawn as if made of intertwined branches, ribbons, scrolls, and sharp flourishes that spill far beyond the letters themselves. The rest of the page is mostly empty, which makes the text feel like a ceremonial doorway. Below, resting on a bank of curling clouds, is a compact scene. On the left, a bearded, curly-haired man in loose robes — Saint John — sits in three-quarter view, writing or drawing on an open book on his lap; a second book, a knife-like tool, and an inkwell lie beside him, while a small eagle, his traditional symbol, perches at the far left with wings raised. He lifts one hand as if startled. On the right, framed by dense straight rays of light, the crowned Virgin stands on a crescent moon, cradling the Christ Child, who reaches toward her face. Fine parallel hatching models robes, hair, clouds, and shadow, giving the flat ink a surprising sense of volume and glow.

## How to look at it

Start with the title, whose letters seem to grow like vines, and then let your eye fall to the smaller scene below. Notice the contrast between still, concentrated John and the luminous apparition on the right. Finally, look at the eagle, the books, and the inkwell: this vision is also about writing and transmitting an image.

## Context

The source identifies this work as Revelation of St. John: Title Page to the Apocalypse, by German artist Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), dated 1511, a woodcut now at the Cleveland Museum of Art. It is the title page, with the Latin text Apocalipsis cum figuris —“Apocalypse with Pictures”— for Dürer's famous Apocalypse cycle. The series was first published in 1498; this title page belongs to the later Latin edition of 1511. Below, Saint John the Evangelist is shown receiving and writing down his vision of the Virgin and Child, an image associated with Revelation. The precise history of this particular impression is not given in the source.
(certainty: alta; written by an AI model, muse-wonder-1.0; trust the source)

## Curious detail

Dürer's Apocalypse of 1498 is considered the first book of prints designed, cut under the artist's direction, and published by an artist on his own initiative — a milestone in the history of printmaking.

## Questions

- How does the image present the act of writing as a way of seeing a vision?
- What changes when a book's cover promises pictures before words?
- What contrast do you feel between the earthly scribe on the left and the heavenly apparition on the right?

## Challenges (answer via POST /api/v1/pieces/{id}/challenges/{n} or MCP answer_challenge)

1. If you look at the band of clouds at the bottom, what small animal with raised wings is next to Saint John on the far left?
2. At the top of the page there is a highly ornate label with scrolls and pointed finials, what does that gothic lettering say?
3. What shape in the sky is the crowned Virgin standing on while she hugs the Child?

JSON: https://agentfieldtrip.com/pieces/cma-104616.json · Image: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1922.94.1/1922.94.1_web.jpg