The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Albrecht Dürer's image of four horsemen who stare directly ahead and trample everything in their path is one of the most memorable images in Western art. Dürer illustrates the opening of the first four seals of Christ's scroll from the Biblical Book of Revelation. The first horseman, with a bow and a crown, represents the Conqueror. The second, who carries a sword, signifies War. The third carries empty scales and represents Famine; and the fourth, riding a "sickly pale" horse, is Death, followed closely by Hell (Rev. 6:1-8). The image of Hell swallowing an emperor signifies the inevitable fate of all social classes.

This sheet is part of a series of 15 woodcuts comprising the Apocalypse, the first book in the history of art to be conceived, designed, and published by an artist.