Et il avait dans sa main droit sept etoiles, et de sa bouch sortait une epee aigue a deux tranchants (And he had in his right hand seven stars; and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword)

Redon employed the lithographic process, drawing directly onto a stone or metal plate with greasy media before transferring the image onto paper. The work’s line work is loose and ethereal, creating a ghost‑like presence that seems to dissolve into the surrounding shadows, a hallmark of Redon’s late Symbolist aesthetic.

Created at the close of the 19th century, the print reflects Redon’s turn toward more overtly religious and mystical themes after a career dominated by dreamlike, fantastical imagery. It entered private collections shortly after its production and has since been exhibited in several retrospectives of Redon’s print oeuvre, illustrating his late‑period concerns.

The lithograph emerges from a period when Symbolist artists sought to convey spiritual and metaphysical ideas through ambiguous, often nocturnal imagery. Redon’s use of stark contrast and sparse detail aligns with contemporary explorations of the unseen, while the biblical allusion situates the work within a broader cultural fascination with apocalyptic prophecy at the fin de siècle.