Apocalyptic Images then and now..

In medieval times depicting what the written word said through images was vital to understanding. Since many could not read, the images gave them a glimpse into what the end of times would be like. The medieval apocalyptic images dealt with the spiritual realm and came from the book of Revelation. When looking at the images from this time period they explain the passages and are self explanatory. The images are there for the sake of learning and knowing of what was to come. Now-a-days, apocalyptic images are a little bit more than that.
People don't rely on images to tell them a story. Literacy has improved drastically and images are now used for shock value and emotion. Sure, images are still used to represent what the story is about. However, I think that apacalyptic images today are mainly to instill fear, to entertain, shock, or cause the reader to wonder "what if?" Many of the same characteristics remain the same (angels, demons, good/bad) and that is because many of the images still depict the book of Romans and what it says about the end times. It's interesting to see how much time has gone by since the medieval period and how little the main idea of these images have stayed the same. Although the purpose behind the images today is quite different than the medieval times, they still are similar in nature.