The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, from the Apocalypse series

Inscriptions

Signed, in block, lower center: AD [in monogram] Watermark: Large Imperial Orb

Label

Illustrating the Book of Revelation (6:1–8) the Christian Biblical text that tells of the world’s end, this print features four horsemen announcing the Apocalypse. They represent the intertwined threats of Death, Famine, War, and Plague. Distinguished by color in the Bible, the identity of each rider in this image has been debated. On the frail horse, however, an emaciated man with only a pitchfork, has been recognized as Death, who follows in the destructive wake of his fellows. No one is spared in this rampage: the pile of bodies the riders charge over includes a bishop, a woman, and a nobleman. At the bottom left, the mouth of hell opens to swallow the dead. Around 1500, apocalyptic thinking was common. Faced with ongoing wars, frequent illnesses, and starvation, Europeans feared that the end of time was fast approaching. Dürer’s terrifying image seems to capture this societal anxiety.

Course History

ARTH 2, Introduction to the History of Art II, Joy Kenseth, Marlene Heck, Winter 2012

ARTH 43, Northern Renaissance Art, Jane Carroll, Winter 2012

ARTH 7, Knight, Death, and the Devil, Jane Carroll, Spring 2012

HIST 96, Topics in Medieval History, Walter Simons, Winter 2013

ARTH 7, Knight, Death, and the Devil, Jane Carroll, Spring 2012

GEOG 17, Geopolitics and Third World Development, Patricia Lopez, Spring 2015

GEOG 17, Geopolitics and Third World Development, Patricia Lopez, Spring 2015

ARTH 2, Introduction to the History of Art II, Joy Kenseth, Mary Coffey, Winter 2016

ARTH 16.17, Rembrandt, Joy Kenseth, Spring 2016

ARTH 16.17, Rembrandt, Joy Kenseth, Spring 2016

ARTH 2, Introduction to the History of Art II, Mary Coffey, Joy Kenseth, Winter 2019

HIST 96.31, The Crisis of the Late Middle Ages Reconsidered: Art, Artists, and Cultural Change in the ‘Northern Renaissance,’ 1350–1575, Walter Simons, Fall 2019

GERM 03, Intermediate German, Klaus Mladek and Lisa Oberberger, Spring 2020

GERM 03, Intermediate German, Klaus Mladek and Lisa Oberberger, Spring 2020

GERM 003, Intermediate German, Lisa Oberberger, Fall 2020

GERM 003, Intermediate German, Lisa Oberberger, Fall 2020

GERM 03, Intermediate German, Lisa Oberberger, Winter 2021

GERM 03, Intermediate German, Lisa Oberberger, Spring 2021

GERM 03, Intermediate German, Klaus Mladek and Lisa Oberberger, Spring 2021

SART 27/28/74, Printmaking I/II/III, Jennifer Caine, Winter 2022

SART 20/SART 71, Drawing II/Drawing III, Jack Wilson, Fall 2022

Studio Art 27.01/28.01/74.01, Printmaking I/II/III, Jen Caine, Winter 2023

History 3.01, Europe in the Age of Wonder, M. Cecilia Gaposchkin and Walter Simons, Winter 2023

Anthropology 3.01, Introduction to Anthropology, Charis Ford Morrison Boke 1, Summer 2023

Studio Art 27.01/28.01/74.01, Printmaking I/II/III, Josh Dannin, Summer 2023

Studio Art 27.01, Studio Art 28.01, Studio Art 74.01, Printmaking I, II, III, Jen Caine, Winter 2024

Facilitated Experience: Special Tour - From Goya to Photojournalism, Summer 2023

Exhibition History

1500, Strauss Gallery, Hopkins Center Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, November-December 1972.

15th & 16th Century Prints from the Permanent Collection, Lower Jewett Corridor, Hopkins Center Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, October 14-December 4, 1977.

A Space for Dialogue 86, Emblem, Figuring the Abstract in Social Commentary, Bay Lauris ByrneSim, Class of 2015, Main Lobby, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, February 14-April 5, 2015.

An Introduction of the History of Art from the Fifteenth Century to the Twentieth Century, Harrington Gallery Teaching Exhibition, Art 2, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, February 12-March 15, 1992.

An Introduction to the History of Art: Works from the 15th to 18th Centuries, Art 2, Harrington Gallery Teaching Exhibition, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, December 14, 1993-January 30, 1994.

Art I, South Lobby, Hopkins Center Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, November-December 1973.

Durer and Friends, Art 52, Lower Jewett Corridor, Hopkins Center Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, November 30, 1979-January 6, 1980.

Durer and Related Works, Beaumont-May Gallery, Hopkins Center Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, November 1971.

Forms and Messages: Selections from the Hood Museum of Art Collection, Harrington Gallery Teaching Exhibition, Art History 2, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 19-March 10, 2002.

Introduction to the History of Art: Works from the 15th to the 18th Centuries, Harrington Gallery Teaching Exhibition, ArtH 2, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, December 24, 1994-February 5, 1995.

Late Medieval and Renaissance Prints, Barrows Galleries, Hopkins Center Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, November 8-December 15, 1974.

Old Master Prints from the Dartmouth Collection, Friends and Owen Robertson Cheatham Galleries, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 23-April 10, 1988.

Points of View, Art History 2, ARTH 2, Winter 2016, Joy Kenseth and Mary Coffey, Harrington Gallery Teaching Exhibition, Harrington Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 1-March 13, 2016.

Prints & Drawings of the Northern Renaissance, Carpenter Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, May 21-July 11, 1976.

Prints from the Hood Museum Collection, inaugural exhibition, Friends Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, November 1, 1985-January 12, 1986.

Recording War: Images of Violence, 1500-1900, Ivan Albright Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, May 20-August 20, 2023.

Representations of the Body in Space from the Renaissance to the Present: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Harrington Gallery Teaching Exhibition, Art History 2, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 3-March 15, 1998.

Teaching the History of Western Art 1500-Present, Harrington Gallery Teaching Exhibition, ArtH2, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 27-March 11, 2001.

The Renaissance: Forms, Reforms, and Revolutions, Barrows & Strauss Galleries, Hopkins Center Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 9-September 3, 1982.

Publication History

Jacquelynn Bass, Treasures of the Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, New Hampshire: The Trustees of Dartmouth College, 1985, p. 80, no. 56, ill.

Bay Lauris ByrneSim, A Space for Dialogue 86, Emblem, Figuring the Abstract in Social Commentary, Hanover, New Hampshire: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, 2015, checklist no. 1.

Provenance

Alfred Byers Wade (1874-1949) Collection, to his wife, Helena Mein Wade (1878-1966), New Canaan, Connecticut, 1949; given to present collection, 1950.

Catalogue Raisonne

Bartsch 64; Meder 167; Knappe 155

This record is part of an active database that includes information from historic documentation that may not have been recently reviewed. Information may be inaccurate or incomplete. We also acknowledge some language and imagery may be offensive, violent, or discriminatory. These records reflect the institution’s history or the views of artists or scholars, past and present. Our collections research is ongoing.

We welcome questions, feedback, and suggestions for improvement. Please contact us at: Hood.Collections@dartmouth.edu

Subjects