Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are figures in the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Bible, a piece of apocalypse literature written by John of Patmos. Similar allusions are contained in the Old Testament books of Ezekiel and Zechariah, written about six centuries prior. Though the text only provides a name for the fourth horseman, subsequent commentary often identifies them as personifications of Conquest (Zelus), War (Ares), Famine (Limos), and Death (Thanatos).
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, an 1887 painting by Viktor Vasnetsov. From left to right are Death, Famine, War, and Conquest; the Lamb is at the top.
The first Horseman of the Apocalypse as depicted in the Bamberg Apocalypse (1000–1020). The first "living creature" (with halo) is seen in the upper right.
Albrecht Dürer, Knight, Death and the Devil, 1513
The second Horseman, War on the Red Horse, as depicted in a thirteenth-century Apocalypse manuscript
The Book of Zechariah, attributed to the Hebrew prophet Zechariah, is included in the Twelve Minor Prophets in the Hebrew Bible.
Greek manuscript of Zechariah from c. 50 BCE–50 CE (Nahal Hever)
Zechariah's vision of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, engraving by Gustave Doré.
