L'Apocalypse (Edition allemande) L'Ange tenant la clé de l'abîme (Bartsch 75), GDUT4130

You see a winged angel standing over a scaly, multi-headed dragon, holding a heavy iron chain and a large key meant to lock the beast into a pit. In the top right corner, another angel gestures toward a distant, sprawling city while speaking to Saint John the Evangelist. The landscape features a detailed medieval town with high walls and towers, set against a backdrop of mountains and a flock of birds.

This image illustrates the binding of evil at the end of time, a central theme in Western prophetic and visionary traditions. Dürer’s work influenced how later esoteric thinkers visualized the transition from a chaotic material world to a divine, ordered reality.