Illustration LVII: the 19th figure: the 6th angel sounds his trumpet and looses the 4 angels bound to the river Euphrates. They prepare and army of horsemen to slay the third part of men (Revelation 9: 11-21). c. 16th century

Editor: This is "Illustration LVII: the 19th figure…" by an anonymous artist, housed at the Harvard Art Museums. It depicts a scene of war and devastation, drawing from Revelation. What symbolic weight do you think this image carries? Curator: The symbols in this image are heavy with apocalyptic dread. Trumpets, angels, rivers unleashing destruction... How do these resonate across cultures, even those unfamiliar with the biblical text? Editor: I guess the images tap into a universal fear of the end of the world. Curator: Precisely. The horsemen, for instance, aren’t just figures of war; they are archetypes of chaos, reminding us of collective anxieties surrounding mortality and societal collapse. Editor: That's a darker interpretation than I initially had, but I see how the symbols evoke a sense of universal dread. Curator: Indeed. And understanding those symbolic layers enriches our appreciation of the image's enduring power.