The Four Horsemen: Apocalypse, Death and Disaster

Death, devils and witchcraft dominated the apocalyptic thinking of the artists from the fifteenth to eighteen centuries, and their very image is coming to haunt the National Gallery of Victoria.

Over 120 images of death and catastrophe by European artists, including Albrecht Dürer, Jacques Callot, Jacques de Gheyn II, Stefano della Bella and Francisco Goya, will line the walls of NGV during the shows five-month run, and detail a time of religious and social turmoil in Europe.

Dr Petra Kayser, Curator, Prints and Drawings, NGV, said, “This was a period when the plague, famine and war were affecting the majority of the population in Europe and death could strike on a massive scale at any time. These circumstances led to a different awareness of mortality which is reflected in the visual culture of the period.”

WHEN: Friday August 31 – Monday January28 2013, Wed-Mon, 10am-5pm
WHERE: National Gallery of Victoria, St Kilda Road, Melbourne
WEB:  ngv.vic.gov.au/whats-on/exhibitions/exhibitions/the-four-horsemen