Picturing the Apocalypse: The Book of Revelation in the Arts over Two Millennia by Natasha O'Hear and Anthony O'Hear (review)

Picturing the Apocalypse sets out to show how differently the book of Revelation has been viewed through the ages. It examines the expression of interpretations through art, specifically paintings, although film and music are explored as well. By doing this, the authors—an art historian and a philosopher—hope to show that the biblical apocalypse sparks fascination in every time and culture. The imaginative force of the book remains relevant in each era, regardless of the theological interpretations.

The book chapters explore each major theme in the Book of Revelation except for the final chapter, which covers the interpretation and application of Revelation in arts and popular culture in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Each chapter takes a different topic and attempts to show how the evolution of the art of the Apocalypse changed over time with respect to emphasis and detail.

A particular strength of the book is the opening chapter on angels. This chapter demonstrates that the angels in Revelation are dominant figures in art up until the seventeenth century, although other expressions focused on more colorful characters, such as the Whore of Babylon and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. This fact alone is interesting due to the fact that John, as the authors state, is not just seeing, but "he sees what he is shown" (39) by the heavenly messengers. This being said, angels play a vital role in John's prophetic vision. He would indeed not see many of these visions without the aid of the angelic beings.

Chapter 3 is another particular strength of the book, covering the Four Horsemen. The authors point out that although there are only seven verses covering these characters (6:2–8), they have still produced awe in the reader, culminating in many artists expressing them in multiple ways. The creative inspiration of the Four Horsemen persists over time, both in the fine arts and popular culture. Prior to the twelfth century, the first horseman, who brings war, was often marked out from the rest of the characters, signaling his importance among the four. Then artists shifted and began to present the horsemen separately, giving more focus to each individual character. In whatever ways they were portrayed through the centuries, the authors conclude: "We have encountered three different ways of depicting them: all together, completely separately, and as a sort of disparate group. In all three, the fact that their actions have been sanctioned by those in the heavenly throne room has been emphasized by the artists," reminding the reader of an "ethical challenge"—how can God "sanction the destruction caused by the Four Horsemen?" (78–79).

Chapter 7 covers the Whore of Babylon. Both artistic and theological interpretations of this character have changed many times in history. Like the Four Horsemen, this character has often excited many creative assumptions when expressed through art. She has been viewed as negative symbol, representing the Roman Empire of John's time, as well as the generalized embodiment of a threat to the universal church, which became a common view beginning in the seventeenth century. It seems the Whore of Babylon is one of the most popular characters in the apocalyptic book, based on myriad interpretations and expressions in both theology and art.

One of the later chapters, "The Apocalypse in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries," focuses on how music, social media, literature, and other mediums have understood and applied John's prophetic book. Shifting back to the Four Horsemen, the authors point out how popular musical artists, such as the bands Muse and Coldplay, have used references to the Horsemen in their music (240). Movies like Melancholia (2011) "[explore] the concept of depression against a backdrop of an impending apocalypse in which the Earth will be destroyed by a rogue planet named Melancholia" (241). Video games...