Tapestry of the Apocalypse

The Tapestry of the Apocalypse

It is no accident that the famous Tapestry of theApocalypse is now kept in the Château of Angers, former residence of the Dukes of Anjou. For it was to one of them, Louis I, that, between 1373 and 1380, the King of France, Charles V, lent an illuminated manuscript of scenes from The Book of Revelation (L’Apocalypse in French), to make “his beautiful hanging”. The work was certainly commissioned by Louis I of Anjou between 1373 and 1377, because from that year the prince’s accounts note payments for the manufacture of the tapestry which must have been finished around 1382. They record that the King’s painter, Jean, known as Hennequin de Bruges, worked on the tapestry because he was paid for “pourtraitures et patrons” (designs and patterns), that is, the designs and perhaps some of the illustrations. Associated with the manufacture of the tapestry were the names of Nicolas Bataille and Robert Poirnçon: the latter’s workshops may have been sub-contracted for part of the work.

The tapestry is a ceremonial work, used on solemn occasions such as the wedding of Louis II, son of the Duke of Anjou, in 1400 at Arles. From the outset it was considered a masterpiece, of which great care had to be taken. In 1480, it was given by King Rene, Duke of Anjou, to the chapter of Angers Cathedral, which exhibited it on important religious festivals. However, at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th, it went through a disastrous period during which it was damaged, abandoned and split up, until, in the middle of the 19th century, it came to the attention of Canon Joubert of Angers Cathedral who took great care in reassembling and restoring the main sections. Finally, in 1954, it returned to the Chateau, to be placed there on public exhibition.

< VI.83. St John before the Angel. Front, detail.

First section

I. Large Figure 1.

At the start of each section, there was originally a high canopy of elegant design containing a large figure. Only four of these panels have been preserved, attributed to sections I, III, IV and V. Does the presence of the coat of arms of Anjou (banners, butterflies) permit the assumption that the enigmatic features of these figures are in fact those of Duke Louis I of Anjou, who commissioned the tapestry? The figure from this section differs from the other three remaining, but whatever their identity – duke, philosopher or mere reader – they act as an invitation to read and meditate on the scenes towards which they are turned.

I.1. St John on Patmos.

(Lost scene.) Exiled to the island of Patmos, in the Aegean Sea, St John receives a Revelation (Apocalypse) in the form of visions.

I.2. The seven churches.

The seven identical buildings with their guardian angel represent the seven Churches to which St John is to send the Revelation. These are Christian communities under the control of bishops (the angels) and chosen from among those in Western and Central Asia Minor, placed under the apostolic authority of the saint, exiled not far away. The choice of the number seven, symbol of plenty, gives a universal significance to this Revelation and so extends it to the whole Church in space and time.

I.3. Christ with a sword.

Before receiving the Revelation, St John falls in adoration before Christ seated at the centre of seven gold candlesticks, a new symbol of the seven Churches. In this majestic appearance of the Son of Man, the long tunic signifies the priesthood, the golden girdle across his chest signifies royalty and the whiteness of his hair the antiquity of the Son of Man, that is, his eternal existence as he is

I.3. Christ with a sword. Back, detail, reversed negative.

II.19. The Angel empties his censer. The fire which helped the prayers to rise is transformed into a fire of curses against the impious Earth which refuses to pray. It is both purifying and vengeful. Here, it sets off harbingers of the great calamities. The thunder and lightning are depicted in a conventional manner in the scene by heads spitting fire. There is a second scene within this one: an angel is sounding the trumpet towards Heaven from which fire is pouring down.

II.20. The first trumpet: hail and fire. The first plagues released by the trumpets use the four elements which the ancients believed to be the constituents of nature: earth, air, water and fire. The rain of hail and fire, already illustrated in part of the preceding scene, was portrayed again in this one, of which only a fragment has survived.

II.16. The multitude of the chosen. Back, detail, reversed negative.

II.21. The second trumpet: the shipwreck. At the sounding of the second trumpet, the sea in its turn is hit by the plague of fire. The artist has not portrayed the burning mountain described in the text. He has reduced it to a wood fire with elegant flames, placed on the land, not in the sea. The sea itself is only reached by a few licks of flame and only a few waves are tinged with blood, while a boat is sinking and sailors perish.

II.22. The third trumpet: Wormwood. With the third trumpet, fire falls from the Heavens onto the waters once more. But the plague has changed in form and objective. The mountain of fire has become a star named Wormwood and the waters are affected to their very source. Fresh water, essential to man, is contaminated by wormwood, which is both toxic and bitter, symbol of a calamity at once physical and moral, which affects many people.

II.23. The fourth trumpet: the eagle of woe. The three curses (ve, ve, ve) heralded by the eagle are associated with the three last trumpets. They are forcefully depicted through the size of the bird, by the words of woe woven in Latin on the banner and finally by the buildings of a deserted city, its naively styled ruins drawn very simply to achieve a timeless quality.

II.24. The fifth trumpet: the locusts. The star falling from the Heavens onto the Earth is a fallen angel, according to the commentators, and to some even the Prince of that world, Satan himself. With the key given to him, and therefore with God’s permission, he opens the gates of Hell and first lets out a great cloud of smoke. With the smoke, locusts emerge to attack the impious directly. St John sees these animals in the form of caparisoned horses with the faces of crowned men, women’s hair, lions’ teeth and scorpions’ tails. The horseman, mounted on one of these demoniacal beings of which he is the king, is the Angel of the Abyss, wearing bats’ wings, traditionally attributed to Satan in medieval iconography.

III.31. The death of the two Witnesses.

“When they shall have finished their testimony, the Beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them ...“ This Beast is, according to the commentators, the Antichrist created in Hell, the name for anyone who does battle individually or collectively against Christ. In this form, contemporary with St John, the Beast represents the persecuting Roman Empire, the standard for all political Antichrists to come.

III.32. The rejoicing of the people before the dead Witnesses. The bodies of the witnesses are lying in the squares of Sodom and Egypt, biblical symbols of a depraved world where the Church is trampled under the feet of its enemies, who, to rejoice in their victory, “will make merry and shall send gifts to one another.” The figures in this scene are passing objects from hand to hand which are hard to identify, while the Witnesses lie on the grass in front of a miniature city.

III.33. The Witnesses rise from the dead.

“And after three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered into them...”

The blood of the martyrs is seed to Christians, a source of spiritual renewal. Here, to show this resurrection more clearly, two doves, symbols of the breath of life, come to revive the Witnesses... while another part of the scene shows the annihilated enemies and their works.

III.34. The seventh trumpet: the announcement of the victory.

At the sounding of the seventh trumpet, St John hears voices (here, in the form of animal heads) finally proclaiming the achievement of the eternal reign of God over the world. The inclined posture and inflated cheeks suggest the effort made by this seventh angel to make his trumpet resonate towards the twentyfour Elders who will give thanks in a new act of worship.

uu III.29. The measurement of the temple. Back, reversed negative. u III.34. The seventh trumpet: the announcement of victory. Back, reversed negative.

IV. Large Figure 4. This panel, which was found in fragments, has been restored with a large amount of re-weaving. However, the original areas are large enough to see that it is almost identical to those placed at the start of the third and fifth sections.

IV.43. The new worship of the Beast. Although the Revelation to St John emphasises the worship which will be given to the Beast over the whole Earth by the people who persist in their sins, this is in order to warn that these worshippers will be punished in the way they have sinned: Christians must therefore not allow themselves to be beguiled and must be patient and strong in their faith until the end! This is the exhortation the Book of Revelation as a whole, and more specifically the verses corresponding to this scene, is sending to the Christians of all periods.

IV.44. The Beast of the Earth causes fire to fall from Heaven. The description of this Beast which comes up out of the Earth echoes that of the false prophets foretold by Christ. He may have the appearance of the Lamb but his word is treacherous. Commentators also see the Antichrist here, in his religious or ideological guise, the instigator of persecutions and the author of marvels which will bring admiration from the inhabitants of the Earth and cause them to worship him.

IV.45. The worship of the Beast’s image. The Beast of the Earth, the religious Antichrist, commands the worship of the image of the Beast from the Sea, the political Antichrist. This, commentators feel, is an allusion to paganism and the Roman Empire as representatives

w IV.44. The Beast of the Earth causes fire to fall from Heaven. Back, detail, reversed negative.

V.60. The fourth flask poured onto the sun. The fourth flask is poured onto the sun whose rays are transformed into a terrible torment for the people who did not repent of their sins and who are depicted, terrified and overwhelmed, in this fragment of the scene.

V.61. The fifth and sixth flasks poured on the throne and on the Euphrates. The empire of the Beast is being affected more and more seriously. A plague falls directly onto his altarlike throne and plunges his domain into darkness; another plague dries up the Euphrates and removes the natural barriers which separate the Beast from his most fearsome external enemies.

V.62. The frogs. Satan reappears, accompanied by his henchmen, the Beast from the Sea and the False Prophet whom St John seems to identify further on with the Beast of the Earth. These monsters are vomiting frogs, symbols of diabolical spirits which tirelessly spread rumours aimed at inciting nations to act against one another and against God.

V.63. The seventh flask poured in the air. A seventh and final flask strikes air, the fourth element of nature, and releases thunder, lightning and hail. And straight away the collapse of Babylon, the great city, takes place. This is not the end of the world in the strictest sense, as people persevere in their impiety. However, as “each era has its Babylon” this ruination of a civilisation of the Antichrist foretells the ruination of all his present and future empires, as well as his total and final defeat. This earns a solemn announcement proclaimed by a voice coming from the altar of the temple.

V.64. The Great Whore upon the waters. One of the angels charged with pouring out the vials comes to find St John to explain a major symbol of the Revelation to him, that of a prostitute whose

name is written on her forehead: “Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of all harlots and abominations of the Earth.” Babylon is the great city seated on the great, turbulent waters of the peoples, nations and tongues. She dominates them and draws them into her errors and vices. It is obviously pagan Rome and with it all future persecuting powers, political or religious, for which Rome is the standard and the prefiguration.

V.65. The Whore mounted on the Beast. Carried by the angel, St John reaches the vision of the Whore and the Beast on which she is now sitting. Ornamented with the earthly riches of her prostitution, this woman-Babylon is shown as a counter-Church, a city of Satan, mother of the abominations of the Earth. Her vices arc contained in the golden cup, held out ostentatiously.

V.65. The Whore mounted on the Beast. Back, detail, reversed negative.

name, New Jerusalem, not Babylon, is blessed and not cursed. Her relationship to God is as the Bride of the Lamb and her relationship to man is as the Holy City. Her splendour dazzles the prophet and is expressed using complex symbolism, impossible to translate into plastic terms. The artist has been sparing in detail in this scene and has concentrated on action rather than description. The composition centres on the angel holding the golden reed which is to be used to measure the New Jerusalem, a mark of its eternal stability.

VI.82. The river running from the throne of God. St John sees a river of the water of life running from the throne of God and from the Lamb, as the Holy Spirit and the divine life are communicated to the New Jerusalem, as much in the baptismal waters of the earthly Church as in the blessed happiness of the celestial Church. Near the river, the tree of life gives its fruits and its virtues as Christ gives up his life for his people in the Eucharist on Earth and in the beatific vision in Heaven. River and tree of life evoke the earthly paradise before the fall of Adam and Eve, as if to signify that God will re-establish forever the order destroyed by Satan and by man the sinner: the chosen will participate in the divine life and will finally see the face of God with whom they will reign for eternity.

VI.83. St John before the Angel.

(Damaged scene.)

VI.84. St John before Christ.

(Damaged scene.) The apocalyptic visions, inevitably completed, finish with the contemplation of Christ and the sigh, full of ardour and of faith: Amen, Come Lord Jesus.

< VI.81. The measurement of the New Jerusalem. Back, detail, reversed negative.