“And when he had opened the second seal,
heard the second beast say,
Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red:
and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth,
and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.”
The Revelation of St. John the Divine
In Greek “apocalypse” stands for regeneration, revelation, disclosure.
In The Revelation of St. John the Divine (Apocalypse) four riders are described. They are granted the right to administer the will of God before the second Advent of Christ. The rider on the white horse with a bow, crowned by an angel, is a “Conqueror”. In the Middle Ages “victorious” was associated with Christ and the church. However, the four riders together are depicted as executors of God’s wrath. The red horse rider with a sword, who has to take peace away from the Earth, is “War”. The black horse rider with a scale is a “Judge” (in some interpretations “Famine”). The pale horse rider is “Death”.
The red horse rider with a sword, who is called “War”, is depicted by the sculptor descending to the Earth in order to deprive it of peace. In his right hand he is holding his terrible weapon and with his left hand he is pushing it forward with great force. The terrified horse is trying to turn aside. The horse and the sword are moving in different directions. The rider’s right leg is tensely stretched out and does not let the horse turn aside, directing it contrary to its will. The energy of the Sender makes him carry the sword to the world.
The horse’s tail, twisted up, blends with the rider’s cloak, falling down from the rider’s shoulders. This plastic solution creates the impression of a whirlwind. The horse’s legs are deliberately cut at knee joints. This artistic device increases the impression of a flight.
For Alexander Samvel apocalypse is an inevitable process resulting in the destruction of obsolete forms of life, which precedes a new phase of creation. The process of apocalypse is natural and, if regarded at the cosmic level, unavoidable. Any manifestation of imbalance in nature or the human society leads to cataclysms followed by cleansing and new development.
“A bit later, when I returned from Spitak after the earthquake, I understood that I had been given a chance to see what others can’t see. I had been given a chance to see it as an artist. The artist’s task is to perceive that apocalypse is a natural part of life. Some will enter it and stay, while others will find a will to exit it, and they will be reborn. This is a great mystery of nature.”