Plaquette thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Plaquette

1914 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This plaquette, one of four plaquettes (127 to 130-1920) representing the riders of the Apocalypse, was made by Theodor von Gosen in Germany, 1914. The Apocalypse was already a subject widespread in European art in about 1900, and was common in German expressionist art by 1914. One of the sources here is probably Dürer's engraving of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The form of the inscription of the reverse is based on those seen on German Renaissance medals. The rider in this plaquette represents the scourages of human kind: war, death, famine, and destruction.


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
Bronze
Brief description
Plaquette, second horseman of Apocalypse/inscrp; Bronze German 1914. T.Gosen.
Physical description
Obv., a warrior on horseback, holding a burning torch in his right hand, and an unsheathed sword in his left. The background below depicts a battle in front of a burning city. Rev., a legend.
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 97mm
Marks and inscriptions
  • "MCMXIV," "TG" (obv.)
  • "UND/HERAUS GING/EIN ANDER PFERD/DAS WAR ROT/UND DEM DER DRAUF SASS/WAWR GEGEBEN DAS ER/DEN FRIEDEN VON DER/ERDE NEHME UND/SIE SICH UNTEREINANDER ERWÜGETEN/UND IHM/WARD GEGEBEN/EIN GROSS/SCHWERT." (rev.)
    Translation
    "And a second horse came out, fiery red whose rider was empowered to take away all peace from the world, bidding men slay one another, and a great sword was given to him. (Apocalypse, VI, 4 5)"
Subjects depicted
Summary
This plaquette, one of four plaquettes (127 to 130-1920) representing the riders of the Apocalypse, was made by Theodor von Gosen in Germany, 1914. The Apocalypse was already a subject widespread in European art in about 1900, and was common in German expressionist art by 1914. One of the sources here is probably Dürer's engraving of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The form of the inscription of the reverse is based on those seen on German Renaissance medals. The rider in this plaquette represents the scourages of human kind: war, death, famine, and destruction.
Bibliographic reference
Cullen, Lucy, Fisher, Wendy and Jopek, Norbert, 'One by One': European Commemorative Medals for the Great War 1914-1918, London : Victoria & Albert Museum, 1998 3
Collection
Accession number
A.128-1920

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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