A6 – The Saints under the altar

“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.” (Revelation VI, 9 – 11)

In this engraving the emphasis is placed on the fact that the works that the saints do accompany them and therefore they are given the white robe for the time being. The event takes place in the center of the engraving in the far distance. Under the altar a holy wreath is formed of horizontal bodies that occupies almost the entire surface. The heavenly altar may just as well be the whole of heaven for this reason. At the bottom on both sides of the distant landscape, two groups of saints are seen being tortured, stoned, beheaded or burned. In addition to the verse, reference is also made to John XIV, 12 – 13 : “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”

This work was made in Chacras de Coria (Argentina) between the 10th of June 1950 and the 3th of February 1956.