The last book of the New Testament, also known as Revelation, written by John, traditionally identified as the Evangelist. The Apocalypse is unique among the books of the New Testament in that it comprises descriptions of the author’s visions, each signalled by the words ‘I saw’ or ‘In my vision I heard’. Generated by the opening of seven seals, the sounding of seven trumpets and the pouring of seven vials, the narrative flows outside the boundaries of operative causes and effects since its events lie beyond time. The thrust of the text is prophetic and admonitory. Abstract forces of good and evil are inexorably caught up in a series of catastrophes and horrific battles waged between angels and demonic beasts, interspersed by ecstatic glimpses of celestial bliss, which ends in a vision of the heavenly Jerusalem. The text was a frequent subject of illustration in different media during the Middle Ages down to the 16th century; there was a particularly strong tradition in illuminated manuscripts and early printed books.

• Apocalypses
  • Bible, §I: Christian
  • Manuscript, §III, 2(ii)(a): Types of illustrated text: Liturgical and devotional
  • historical and regional traditions
    • England
      • Gothic, §IV, 4(ii): Painting techniques: Colour
      • Heraldry, §II, 4(vii)(a): Western heraldry in art: Manuscripts
    • Gothic
      • Gothic, §IV, 2(i): Manuscript painting
    • Netherlands, the
      • Block-book, §2: The Netherlands
  • individual manuscripts
    • Bamberg Apocalypse (Bamberg, Staatsbib., MS. Bibl. 140)
      • Germany, §III, 1(ii): Painting, before c 1400: Ottonian and Romanesque
      • Ottonian art, §IV, 2(i): Manuscript painting: Introduction
      • Ottonian art, §IV, 2(ii)(a): Manuscript painting, before c 1025
      • Saxony: (4) Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Germany and King of Italy
    • Douce Apocalypse (Oxford, Bodleian Lib., MS. Douce 180)
      • England, §III, 1(ii): Painting and graphic arts, c 1066–c 1450
      • Gothic, §IV, 5(ii): Painting: Parisian and related styles, c 1240–c 1320
      • Manuscript, §II, 1(iii): Production and trade: Gothic
      • Manuscript, §III, 3: Illumination: Materials and techniques
      • Military architecture and fortification, §I, 2(iv): Explicit symbolism
      • Plantagenet: (3) Edward I, King of England
    • Gulbenkian Apocalypse (Lisbon, Mus. Gulbenkian, MS. LA 139)
      • Gothic, §IV, 4(iii): Painting techniques: Illumination, modelling and treatment of surface
    • Lambeth Apocalypse (London, Lambeth Pal. Lib., MS. 209)
      • Gothic, §III, 2(v): Wood sculpture in the British Isles
      • Heraldry, §II, 2(iii): Western secular: Attributed arms
    • Lorvão Apocalypse (Lisbon, Arquiv. N.)
      • Portugal, §III, 1: Painting and graphic arts, before c 1600
    • Trier Apocalypse (Trier, Stadtbib., MS. 23)
      • Carolingian art, §IV, 3(i): Manuscript painting: Introduction
    • Trinity College Apocalypse (Cambridge, Trinity Coll., MS. R. 16. 2)
      • Plantagenet: (2) Henry III, King of England
    • Valenciennes Apocalypse (Valenciennes, Bib. Mun., MS. 99)
      • Insular art, §3: Manuscript illumination
  • types