Woman of the Apocalypse (Hortus deliciarum)

The central crowned woman is framed by a golden solar disk and a blue lunar crescent, symbolizing her 'clothing' with the sun. A red, multi-headed dragon on the right vomits a flood intended to sweep her away, while on the left, soldiers representing her spiritual descendants are confronted by a beast. The scene is rendered in the vibrant, stylized aesthetic of 12th-century Romanesque manuscript illumination, reproduced here as a print.

As part of the Hortus deliciarum, this work represents a major 12th-century effort to synthesize theological and visionary knowledge. The imagery of the Woman of the Apocalypse became a central archetype in Western mystical traditions, often linked to the Sophia or the 'Anima Mundi' in later alchemical and Rosicrucian thought.