LLEI D'ART 13

Finally, the new Jerusalem, with the seven final visions: the visionof the open sky and thewordof Godon ablack horse, a visionof the avenging angel, a visionof theBeast and his defeat, a visionof the thousand-year kingdom and the judgement of Gog andMagog (cities of Armageddon where thebattles at the endof theworldwill be unleashed), the visionof the first resurrection, the second and final eschatological combat, the visionof the judgment of the nations and the visionof the newHeavenly Jerusalem. The vision closeswithhope: heaven and earth aremade anew, Jerusalem, as a symbol of the city of God, is now all the earthwhereGod now lives inside all men. Thebook, and as such theChristianBible, concludewith ablessing and recent that Jesus return soon. All thepredictions andprophesies, characters or scenes from thebook havebeen representedby the greatmasters of art throughout history. Hallelujahs,mostly inmusic, are taken from theBook of the Apocalypse. Händel’s Messiah includes thewords from three passages from theApocalypse in the oratory of the choirs. Contemporarymusicians such asDeepPurple, Leonard Cohen, Bon Jovi, Jeff Buckley, Rammstein, Paramore, MarcosWitt oRufusWainwright all have songs entitled Hallelujah reminding us of the hopeplaced in the requests for glory beforeGod. From thePaleo-Christian age to theRomanesqueperiod, numerous artworks havebeenpreserved in their original locations andothers havebeen transported to specialised museums. TheNational Museumof Catalonia guards, cares for, anddisplays an important collectionof Romanesque art andwith it, a gooddepictionof thepassages from thebook of Revelations of John. In theRenaissance,Michelangelogave us The Last Judgement . Dürer, The Four Horsemanof theApocalypse in the formof amagnificent engraving. Pieter Bruegel TheElder delights us againwith this particular narrative style in The Triumphof Death . Later,WilliamBlake, inhis ownway, takes us to thisworldof symbols representing theBeast in the spectacular RedDragon series of works. The need to reflect upon the realitieswe are living in is still somethingwe need today. Thedesire to change the parameters that rule us is relevant.We are surroundedby apocalyptic episodes of soulless people unworthy tobe consideredpart of our ownhumanity. TheApocalypse, a work that both inspires and is inspiredby artists throughout time, has been a topic of worship for as long, albeit manifesting itself in forms adapted to various epochs and times. Nevertheless, it always seeks to reflect the precariousness and fragility of existence in the face of the constant threat of death and extermination. MichelangeloBuonarroti El juicio final / The last judgement , 1537-41 CapillaSixtina, Roma. AlbertoDurero. Los cuatro jinetes del Apocalipsis/ The Four Horsemanof the Apocalypse , 1498. WilliamBlake. El grandragón rojo y la mujer revestida con el sol/ TheGreat RedDragon and theWomanClothed with theSun . 1805-1810 GaleríaNacional deArte,Washington. 117