The Angel with the Key to Bottomless Pit
Here, Dürer shows the end to the reign of the Devil as told in book twenty of Revelation. The angel seized the dragon, who is Satan, and "bound him for a thousand years. And he threw him into the Abyss, shut it, and sealed it over him, so that he could not deceive the nations until the thousand years were complete . . . Then [he] saw the thrones, and those seated on them had been given authority to judge . . . those who had not worshiped the beast or its image, and had not received its mark on their foreheads or hands. And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years."
Artwork Details
- Title: The Angel with the Key to Bottomless Pit
- Artist: Albrecht Dürer (German, Nuremberg 1471–1528 Nuremberg)
- Date: 1511
- Medium: Woodcut
- Dimensions: sheet: 15 1/2 x 11 1/8 in. (39.4 x 28.2 cm)
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Bequest of Grace M. Pugh, 1985
- Object Number: 1986.1180.72
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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Albrecht Dürer
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