John on Patmos

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Johannes op Patmos Saint John on Patmos Berlin, State Museums in Berlin, Gemaldegalerie HR.jpg

John on Patmos is a painting by Hieronymus Bosch . The painting, created in 1489 or a little later, is in the Gemäldegalerie Berlin . The figure shows the evangelist John, who in the Middle Ages was also regarded as the author of the last book of the New Testament, the Revelation of John .

The back of the painting is also painted; it shows scenes from the Passion of Christ and the symbolic christological motif of the pelican feeding its young with its own blood.

The painting originally belongs to an altar ensemble that Hieronymus Bosch created for the St. John's Cathedral of his Dutch birthplace 's-Hertogenbosch , together with another panel showing another biblical figure of John ( John the Baptist ) .

Although the traditional pictorial program of 'John on Patmos' places the writer in exile on the Greek Mediterranean island of Patmos , the imagery of the Bosch painting shows more of a Dutch river and cultural landscape. The upward gaze of the writer forms an axis of the image with an esoteric angel figure and the depiction of Mary enthroned in heaven with the child. A bird of prey, an ink container and a surreal half-being with an insect body and a human head can be seen at the lower edge of the picture. The bird denotes the Johannine evangelist symbol, the inkwell the author's activity. The demonic hybrid alludes to the apocalyptic content of the Revelation written by John.

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