Ensor repeatedly depicted the downfall of the world in paintings, drawings and prints. "The Destroying Angel" may have been inspired by the caricature 'The Czar', which appeared in the magazine Egalité on 6 October 1886. The galloping figure in the centre of the picture plane can hardly be considered a real angel, and is more reminiscent of the Germanic Walküren. The story goes back to a passage from the Book of Revelation, which mentions a rider on a fiery-red horse, sword in hand, who is bringing disaster into the world.
| Artist |
James Ensor
RKD
VIAF
Wikidata
|
|---|---|
| Title | The Destroying Angel |
| Date | 1889 |
| Period | 19th century |
| Medium and support | etching AAT |
| Signatures, inscriptions, and markings | signatures (names) top right: Ensor |
| inscription on the reverse: AT | |
| title on the reverse: L'ange exterminateur 1884 | |
| inscription on the reverse: 22 / 166 | |
| Collection | print room |
| Object type | etching AAT |
| Inventory number | 1998-B-77 |
| Acquisition credit |
purchase
Taevernier, Auguste (coll.) 1998 |
| Current whereabouts | Work currently not on display |
| Permalink | https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/1998-B-77 |
| IIIF Manifest | https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/4103/manifest.json |
| Art & Architecture Thesaurus | 300056485 fantastic art AAT |
|---|---|
| Keywords Iconclass |
11G
angels
Iconclass
11G43 destroying angel Iconclass 25F animals Iconclass 25F2 mammals Iconclass 31A the (nude) human figure; 'Corpo humano' (Ripa) Iconclass 31A71 male sex; man Iconclass 31A72 female sex; woman Iconclass 31D15 adult woman Iconclass 45C13(SWORD) hacking and thrusting weapons: sword Iconclass 46A7 crowd, mob Iconclass 46C131 riding a horse, ass, or mule; rider, horseman Iconclass 46C13141 horse Iconclass |
| School / Style |
phantasy
satire (artistic device) AAT |
| Henri Leys, Henri de Braekeleer, James Ensor / Loys Delteil. - Paris : Chez l'Auteur, 1925 (nr. 77) |
| James Ensor : Catalogue illustré de ses gravures ; Leur description critique et l'inventaire des plaques = Geïllustreerde catalogus van zijn gravures ; Hun kritische beschrijving en inventaris van de platen = Illustrated catalogue of his engravings ; Their critical description and inventary of the plates / Auguste Taevernier. - Ledeberg (Gent) : Erasmus Boekhandel bv Amsterdam, 1973 (nr. 77) |
|
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