And I Saw an Angel Coming Down from Heaven - Odilon Redon
Archival giclée
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Description
A haunting lithograph from Odilon Redon's 1899 Apocalypse de Saint-Jean series, exploring themes of spiritual mystery through dramatic light and shadow.
This lithograph is part of the Apocalypse de Saint-Jean series, a collection of twelve prints produced by Odilon Redon in 1899. The work illustrates a passage from the Book of Revelation, capturing the descent of an angel tasked with binding the abyss. Redon, a central figure in the Symbolist movement, moved away from the objective representation of the natural world to explore the subjective realm of dreams, memory, and the subconscious.
The composition relies on the stark contrast between deep, velvety blacks and luminous whites, a hallmark of Redon's mastery of the lithographic medium. The figure of the angel emerges from the darkness, its form defined by soft, atmospheric shading rather than rigid outlines. The chain, held loosely in the angel's hand, acts as a diagonal anchor, guiding the viewer's eye through the void. By focusing on the psychological weight of the biblical narrative rather than a literal depiction of the scene, Redon creates an image that feels both ethereal and unsettling.
Redon's technique involves a delicate manipulation of the lithographic stone, allowing for a range of tones that mimic the texture of charcoal or pastel. This approach creates a sense of mystery, as the boundaries between the figure and the surrounding darkness remain fluid. The print reflects the artist's interest in the unseen, a theme that occupied much of his career. By stripping away extraneous detail, Redon forces a direct confrontation with the symbolic power of the subject. This piece remains a primary example of his ability to translate literary and spiritual concepts into visual form through the medium of black and white printmaking.
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Because every print is made to order, we don't offer change-of-mind returns, refunds or exchanges. If your order arrives faulty, damaged or incorrect, we'll replace it free of charge — just contact us within 48 hours of delivery. See our refunds page for full details.
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We ship worldwide, printing at the production hub nearest to your delivery address. Delivery times and costs vary by destination — you'll see the options available to you at checkout.
Manufacturing
Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
Care and materials
Specific Features
Every Solis piece is made to order with archival, gallery-quality materials built to last.
- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
- Multiple sizes and framing options available
- Frames in black, natural wood, dark wood or white
- Framed prints arrive ready to hang
Care & Cleaning
To keep your artwork looking its best:
- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
- Avoid prolonged direct sunlight
- Never use liquid cleaners on the print or canvas surface
- Keep in a dry, room-temperature space
- Handle prints with clean, dry hands
Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
And I Saw an Angel Coming Down from Heaven - Odilon Redon
Artist Biography
Odilon Redon
For the first two decades of his career he worked exclusively in black: charcoal drawings and lithographs he called his noirs. Floating eyeballs, severed heads with closed lids, spiders with human faces, plants that grow teeth. The images are hallucinatory but precisely rendered, closer to medical illustration than fantasy. He published his first lithograph album, Dans le Reve, in 1879. Nobody noticed.
Recognition came sideways. In 1884, Joris-Karl Huysmans published A rebours, a novel about a reclusive aesthete who decorates his rooms with Redon's prints. The book became a cult text for the Symbolist movement and Redon became famous by association. Stephane Mallarme, the Symbolist poet, became a close friend. Redon also completed a series of lithographs dedicated to Edgar Allan Poe, whose poems Mallarme and Baudelaire had translated into French.
After 1900 he stopped making noirs entirely and shifted to colour: pastels and oils of flowers, mythological figures and butterflies in palettes that anticipate Matisse. The transition was so complete that the Surrealists later claimed the black work while the Fauves claimed the colour, and neither group seemed to notice they were talking about the same person.
He studied under Jean-Leon Gerome at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, which is an unlikely pairing: Gerome painted Roman gladiators with photographic precision. Redon painted eyeballs attached to balloons. Goya and Delacroix were the influences that actually stuck.
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