The Babylon Harlot seated on the Seven-Headed Beast, from the Apocalypse
n.d.
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
plate: 11 7/8 x 8 11/16 in. (30.1 x 22 cm) sheet: 12 1/4 x 9 in. (31.1 x 22.8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1925
Accession Number
25.2.84
Tags
Art Historical Context
Jean Duvet's *The Babylon Harlot seated the Seven-Headed, from the Apocalypse* a striking engraving from the artist's renowned series illustrating the Book of Revelation in the Bible. Created by the 16th-century French gold and engraver Jean Duvet (active ca. 1500–1560), this undated work captures the dramatic vision from Revelation 17, where the infamous Whore of Babylon—symbolizing corrupt power and idolatry—rides a monstrous seven-headed beast amid swirling chaos. Duvet's Apocalypse series, one of the earliest complete printed cycles of this biblical text, reflects the intense religious fer...
About the Artist
Jean Duvet · 1485–1570
Jean Duvet (1485–after 1562), a pioneering French goldsmith and engraver from the provincial heartlands of Dijon and Langres, emerged as the first significant printmaker in France. Born to a Dijon goldsmith, he trained in the family trade and rose swiftly, becoming master of the Dijon Goldsmiths' Guild by 1509. Duvet's early career blended goldsmithing with engraving; no specific teachers are docu...