The Four Angels Restraining the Winds, from the Apocalypse series

Description

The Four Angels Restraining the Winds, from the Apocalypse series, is a woodcut by Albrecht Dürer dated 1497–98. The subject turns on a moment of restraint: the forces of the winds are held back within a vision drawn from the Book of Revelation.

Faces emerging from clouds, winged figures and a gathering of people fill the composition with intersecting movements. Dark hatching gives weight to garments and cloud forms, while pale openings help distinguish the figures within the crowded scene. In The Four Angels Restraining the Winds, the tension between suspended action and energetic linework gives the image its distinctive character. The work belongs to Dürer’s Apocalypse cycle, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds the example associated with this catalog record.