Art, Symbol & Imagination
Death on the Pale Horse
A mounted skeletal presence sweeps through a deeply shadowed field, with tangled bodies and threatening forms receding into the darkness behind it. Doré makes the horse and its rider emerge through pale linework against the blackened atmosphere. The scythe and streaming movement give the central silhouette a force different from the volume’s quiet seated portraits. The printed caption identifies Death on the pale horse, from Revelation’s sequence of opened seals. The design closes the selected group with an apocalyptic vision whose symbolism is presented as part of that text and its artistic interpretation.
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Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "Death on the Pale Horse" [editorial title]. In The Bible Gallery, Gustave Dore; Talbot W. Chambers. Undated Cassell & Company edition; one hundred illustrations with supplied descriptive letterpress, undated edition, Cassell & Company, Limited. Source scan leaf 413. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/bible-dore-412
Source details
Editorial title and description. Source details from the Library catalogue.
Complete plate reviewed against the scan; printed caption supplies subject. Crop excludes surrounding paper and separate caption without changing scan tone. Letterpress theology is not adopted as historical proof.
Sources
From the book
The Bible GalleryGustave Dore; Talbot W. ChambersUndated editionMore from this book
All 98 illustrations
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Cite this illustration
Gustave Doré (design). Death on the Pale Horse. The Bible Gallery. Scan leaf 413. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/bible-dore-412