As the godson of Anton Koberger, publisher of the Nuremberg Chronicle, the young Albrecht Dürer was exposed to—and may have contributed to—the preparation of the most ambitious illustrated book of the fifteenth century. Later, as a mature artist, he would seize upon public anxiety over the approach of the year 1500, which many believed would herald the end of the world, by producing Apocalipsis cum Figuris (Apocalypse with Pictures), which first appeared in 1498 in Latin and German editions. Consisting of fifteen full-page woodcut illustrations with accompanying passages from the biblical Book of Revelation on the verso of each sheet, Dürer’s pictorially inventive book broke new ground in privileging image over text. A milestone in the history of illustration, it was the first book to be entirely conceived, designed, and published by an artist. Demand continued for the publication well into the new century, leading him to publish a second Latin edition in 1511.

Revelation 10 introduces a heavenly angel “clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun and his feet like pillars of fire.” Dürer visualized Saint John following the angel’s instruction to internalize the text of the book that he holds by literally eating it; the angel assures him, “It will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.”