# Scenes from the Apocalypse: The Angel of the Sixth Seal [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [CIMABUE]() - Date: 1251-1300 - Technique: Fresco ## Commentary In the south transept of the Upper Church, there are five scenes from the Apocalypse along the basamanto adjacent to the large Crucifixion fresco. They particularly emphasize the role of the angels as mediators between heaven and earth. The depictions include the Adoration of the Lamb by the Twenty-four Elders and Many Angels, the Angel of the Sixth Seal, the Angel Burning Incense on the Altar of God, the Angel Announcing the Fall of Babylon, and the Angel Sent by God to Show Him the "Things Which Must Shortly Come to Pass". The heavy damage to these frescoes makes it very difficult to read them. The fresco depicting the opening of the sixth seal is one of those that have retained some of their original colour, and its frame has some of the decoration of double vines and putti heads. In the foreground, before a city wall that looks like a folding screen, are the four angels who rule the winds. Above the towers of the city an angel is hovering, pointing with his left hand into the heavens, while his right hand is extended down toward the spirits of the wind. ## Related artworks - [Apocalyptical Christ \(detail\)]() - [Apocalyptical Christ \(detail\)]() - [Christ Enthroned between the Virgin and St John the Evangelist \(detail\)]() - [Crossing vault \(detail of the east cell\)]() - [Crossing vault \(detail of the east cell\)]() - [Crossing vault \(detail of the north cell\)]() - [Crossing vault \(detail of the south cell\)]() - [Crossing vault \(detail of the west cell\)]() - [Crossing vault \(detail of the west cell\)]() - [Crossing vault \(detail\)]() - [Crossing vault \(detail\)]() - [Crossing vault]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()