Jean Duvet, engraver and goldsmith, was also known as the Master of the Unicorn. He produced a body of work known for its extraordinarily expressive intensity. As a Protestant artist working for both Protestant and Catholic patrons during the dangerous years of the Reformation, his art expressed anxiety and urgent spirituality. King Francois I commisioned Duvet's 24 tablet-shaped engravings for The Apocalypse in 1546, but the king died the following year. The engravings were completed in 1555 and dedicated to King Henri II.

The Beast with Seven Heads and Ten Horns combines episodes from chapters 13 and 14 of the Apocalypse, or Book of Revelation. The image contrasts the worship of the Lamb, representing goodness and salvation, with the worship of evil. In the center, the kings of the earth fall down before the Beast from the Sea. In the upper part, the 24 crowned Elders adore the Lamb on Mount Zion.

Source: News July August September 2002.