The appearance of the apocalyptic host is perhaps the most widespread episode of Revelation. The European Middle Ages produced numerous terrifying, extraordinary, and poignant interpretations and images of horsemen, which migrate from the pages of manuscripts and frescoes into the art of subsequent centuries, right up to the present day. The symbolism of these apocalyptic warriors remains a mystery, increasingly captivating the imagination. What do their colors and attributes indicate, what is their purpose?
The first horseman appears on a white horse; white had positive connotations in the Middle Ages: the garments of the righteous and the robes of angels were white. However, is the image of a victorious horseman with a crown and bow (Rev. 6 : 1) positive or negative? The prominent early medieval theologian Irenaeus of Lyons ( second century) believed that the horseman was Jesus himself, and the white horse was a specific medium for the spread of the Gospel. Some theologians considered this interpretation nonsense, since it would simultaneously make Christ both the Lamb and the horseman releasing himself. Furthermore, Christ on a white horse will triumphantly appear in Revelation 19.
Another interpretation of the white horseman, which has generated the most commentary, sees him as the Holy Spirit (a hypostasis of God), and the victorious bow as the apostles striking with the Spirit of the Word. However, this interpretation, in the context of the appearance and symbolism of the next three horsemen, who clearly represent the destructive principle, seems inaccurate. This leads to a negative reading of the horseman as a symbol of Roman imperial triumph (the white horse and crown are attributes of imperial majesty) or as images of false righteousness, false prophets, discord, civil war, and even the Antichrist.
The blood-and-fire color of the second horseman (with a sword in his hands, administering judgment in the name of God ) has led to his association with war. Another interpretation harks back to the idea of martyrdom for Christ, who brought not peace but a sword, and the symbolism testifies to the blood of the righteous, shed for the Word of God.
The appearance of the third horseman on a black horse, holding scales, is marked in a special way: by the voice of one of the four animals, which speaks of the rising prices of barley and wheat, while emphasizing the sanctity of oil and wine. Some interpreters see in this image the idea of a supreme judgment over the mundane, as the scales in the rider's hands are a measure of human values and deeds (commodities, markets), as opposed to spiritual values, oil and wine, sacred materials used in Christian worship—symbols of human salvation. Other interpreters are inclined to see in the black horseman, bringing death, physical and spiritual hunger.
Perhaps only the fourth horseman on a pale horse provokes the least controversy and diametrically opposed interpretations, for his name is Death; he carries nothing in his hands, yet hell follows him. In the ancient Koine Greek dialect, the horseman's deathly color, "khloros," is more pronounced: ash, pale yellow, yellowish-green—and these colors characterized the pallor of a corpse. In some translations, the horseman is sometimes called "pestilence" or "plague," and is depicted with a scythe or sword. The Book of Revelation of John was written in the first century, within the cultural framework of the Roman Empire. Christian exegesis, however, interprets the horsemen as a form of divine punishment, the sins of man. Another interpretation is positivist and historical: the horsemen are seen as either the rulers of Rome, hated by John, or specific disasters—plague, drought, famine, war. In any case, the Roman Empire's equestrians were recognizable not only for their militaristic ambitions but also for their general image of the emperor, a triumphant horseman. The apocalyptic horsemen are an allegory for God's empire, beginning its march on the world and executing its final judgment.
Fig. 10. A rider on a pale horse named Death carries a cup of hellfire in his hand. Behind him is the gaping mouth of hell, where the devil pushes sinners. France, late 13th century. Paris . Biblioth è que nationale de France . Lat . 14410, fol . 11 r .
The specific iconography of hell derives from the motif of soul-devouring, embodied in the images of an oven, a kitchen, or a mouth. " Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied ," says the proverb (Prov. 27:20). The entrance to hell, or Hades in general, was depicted as an open mouth, similar to that of a lion (sometimes a wolf, a dog, a dragon, or a lion: " Save me from the lion's mouth " Psalm 22:22), and the source of the iconography was the literally visualized words of Scripture: " Sheol is enlarged, and opens her mouth wide " (Is. 5:14); " As if we were cut in pieces and crushed, so our bones are scattered into the jaws of Sheol" (Psalm 141:7). Early depictions of the mouth of hell date back to the 11th century: it gapes either upward, accepting and displaying sinners, or horizontally, "greeting" them (see Figs. 32, 33, 35, 60 ). The mouth of the leviathan was often understood as a metaphor for the gates of hell: " Out of his mouth come flames, sparks of fire leap out; out of his nostrils comes smoke, as from a seething pot or cauldron. His breath kindles coals, and out of his mouth comes a flame. On his neck dwells strength, and terror flees before him " (Job 41:11–14). The whale that swallowed Jonah was also identified with the leviathan, and its belly with hell.
With the opening of the sixth seal, a great earthquake occurred: the sun darkened, the moon turned like blood, the stars of heaven fell to the earth, the sky rolled up like a scroll—an earthquake began. Then all people realized that the Day of God's wrath had come and nothing could escape Him.
Fig. 13. In the fresco of the famous Scrovegni Chapel, Giotto depicted an angel rolling up the sky like a scroll (Rev. 6:14). Giotto, detail from The Last Judgment, early 14th century, Italy, Padua.
Afterwards John saw how the elect were sealed, so that the four angels who held the winds would harm the sea and the land, but not them (see Fig. 14). It is emphasized that those who believe and suffer for Christ will be deemed worthy of contemplating Him and staying near Him. The Lamb removes the last, seventh seal... And the end of the world begins: “ there was silence in heaven, and seven angels appeared who stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. Then came another angel and stood before the altar, having a golden censer. The angel took the censer, and filled it with fire from the altar, and cast it to the earth: there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they fell to the earth; and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up (see Fig. 15, 16, 19).
"The third angel sounded, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from heaven and fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the waters because they became bitter. The fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them were darkened. The day did not shine for a third of the time, nor did the night either" (8: 1-12 ).
The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and John saw a star fall from heaven to earth, and it was given the key to the pit of the abyss. Smoke came out of it, everything became dark, then locusts with the power of a scorpion came out of the smoke to the earth to torment people without God's seal on their foreheads. After him, the king of the abyss appeared - Abaddon (see Fig. 17, 59). Having sounded his trumpet, the sixth angel released four angels to kill a third of people. The mounted army of death had armor of fire, hyacinth, and brimstone; the heads of their horses were like the heads of lions, from their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone, which killed a third of people (9:1-18; see Fig. 50, 55, 63, 64 ).
Fig. 17. The Apocalypse of Saint-Severus depicts Abaddon and locusts. In ancient Hebrew, abaddon —place of destruction—was originally an abstract concept of the space of non-existence, a synonym for Sheol-hell (the abode of all the dead). "Sheol and Abaddon are open before the Lord; how much more the hearts of the sons of men" (Proverbs 15:11). "Sheol is naked before Him, and there is no covering for Abaddon. He stretches out the north over the void; He hangs the earth upon nothing" (Job 26:6-7 ) . In the Book of Job, Abaddon is identified with death. The image of an angel appointed as ruler over hell appears in the 1st Book of Enoch. In Revelation, Abaddon is finally personified, marking the bottomless pit, the abyss, and destruction. In John, the Old Testament idea is contaminated with the Greek Apollo (the cult of Apollo the Destroyer was introduced by Emperor Augustus). The figure of Abaddon is linked to the medieval concept of hell—a place not of destruction, but of eternal torment for sinners. Paris. Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 8878, fol. 145v.
