“On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”  I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.” (Revelation I, 10 – 20)

The kneeling figure is Saint John surrounded by seven letters. From the mouth of Christ, the double-edged sword (which represents the word) goes to the mouth of Saint John. The point of the sword is tower-shaped.

In this first engraving from the series, Delhez placed a church on each candlestick. The styles of the churches cover the whole of art history. Starting from the top:

1) Islam & China,

2) Incas, colonial America and Baroque

3) India and Gothic

4) Babilonia and Egypt

5) Renaissance and Byzantium

6) Greece, Rome and Romance

7) Modern style

The title written at the bottom of the engraving is not ‘The seven candlesticks’ but the alternate title : ‘Letters to the seven churches’.

This work was made in Chacras de Coria (Argentina) between the 25th of December 1947 and the 25th of May 1948. This work comes in a passe-partout with a (removable) protective film over the engraving.