The life-size figures of this great work represent the four Apostles: St. John in flaming red, with St. Peter, St. Mark in white, with St. Paul.
Dürer's greatest work: here for once his mind and his hand were at one.
Menacing, colossal in conception these figures rise, simple with the simplicity Dürer aimed for, and at last attained; Byzantine in their awe-inspiring grandeur. But instead of the splendour of Byzantine gold he places his figures upon a jet-black ground, as if he wished to instil the knowledge that there is no light except that which the four Apostles reflect. He had said as much indeed himself years ago. These four figures, "painted with greater care than any other," are his artistic last will and testament. In the letter, by which he humbly begs acceptance of these pictures from the Council, he quotes the words of the four Apostles, which his pictures illustrate, viz:—
St. Peter, in his second epistle in the second chapter.
St. John, in the first epistle in the fourth chapter.
St. Paul, in the second epistle to Timothy in the third chapter.
St. Mark, in his Gospel in the twelfth chapter.
Read them and behold: The Book and the sword! The religion of love in Saracenic fierceness. The menacing guardians of the Word.
Dürer with finality excludes the faithless from all hope. It is this finality, this absolute faith in the Word, this firm conviction of the finiteness of all things, which characterise the whole of his Art. The spirit which brooks no uncertainty and suffers no metaphor, glues a veritable sword to the lips of the "Son of man."
This finality is the cause of Dürer's isolation. He has no followers in the world of creative Art. Close the doors of Dürer's cathedral and the world rolls on, rolls by unheeding.