  About the Artwork
  
  
  The last book of the New Testament, The Revelation of Saint John the Divine (often called “the Apocalypse”), describes the attempts of Satan to take over the world and the ultimate victory of Christ. On the front of this half-sheet a seven-headed dragon, a temporary incarnation of Satan, attacks the offspring of the woman (variously interpreted as Christians in their relationship to Jews, the Virgin Mary, and/or the larger Christian community). On the back, the Dragon and Beast, originally symbolizing Roman emperors and their heathen imperial cult, join forces against the Christian Church. The popularity of this text and its illustrations in the Middle Ages perhaps reflects both general anxiety in an age of unrest and an attraction to the fantastic.
  
  
  Title
  Apocalypse Leaf Fragment: The Dragon Waging War
  
  
  Artwork Date
  ca. 1295
  
  Artist
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  Life Dates
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  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  French
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
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  Medium
  Tempera on parchment
  
  
  Dimensions
  Sheet: 4 1/8 × 5 3/4 inches (10.5 × 14.6 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Manuscripts
  
  
  Department
  Prints, Drawings &amp; Photographs
  
  
  Credit
  Founders Society Purchase with funds from Founders Junior Council and the Mr. and Mrs. Walter B. Ford II Fund
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  1983.20.A
  
  
  Copyright
  Public Domain
