The Whore of Babylon, from The Apocalypse (1496–98): Artwork and History

The Whore of Babylon, from The Apocalypse (1496–98) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Albrecht Dürer German, 1471-1528.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

Albrecht Dürer’s illustrations of the Apocalypse display an unprecedented scale and complexity. In this sheet, the Whore of Babylon, one of the visions foretold in the biblical book of Revelation, is perched on a seven-headed scarlet beast with 10 horns, holding aloft a chalice full of the “abominations and filthiness of her fornication.” She appears in contemporary Italian dress, perhaps a reference to the burning city in the distance, which is commonly interpreted as Rome, whose seven hills matched the beast’s seven heads.

Object facts

• Title: The Whore of Babylon, from The Apocalypse
• Date: 1496–98
• Artist attribution: Albrecht Dürer German, 1471-1528
• Place of origin: Germany
• Medium: Woodcut in black on ivory laid paper
• Dimensions: 38.6 × 28 cm (15 1/4 × 11 1/16 in.)
• Type: Print
• Department: Prints and Drawings
• Reference number: 1956.961

Collection credit

Bequest of Mrs. Potter Palmer, Jr.

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The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.