The Beast with Seven Heads
n.d.
Medium
Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Plate: 30 × 29 cm (11 13/16 × 11 7/16 in.); Sheet: 34.7 × 25.3 cm (13 11/16 × 10 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
4406
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
John’s vision from Revelation 13 pits the Lamb of God against a seven-headed, ten-horned apocalyptic beast of epic proportions. While an angel runs interference to warn the credulous earthly population against worshipping the beast, it is only the true believers in Christ who will survive. Duvet’s dense composition of quivering scales and genuflecting masses breaks open only at the top to reveal the true Christian sacrificial symbol, the Lamb. Bearing the attributes of the evangelist, this mild ...
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...