The
Biblia pauperum ("Paupers' Bible") was a tradition of picture
BibleThe Bible contains the central religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. Modern Judaism generally recognizes a single set of canonical books known as the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, as it is written almost entirely in the Hebrew language, with some small portions in Aramaic...
s beginning in the later
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
. They sought to portray the historical books of the Bible visually. Unlike a simple "illustrated Bible", where the pictures are subordinated to the text, these Bibles placed the illustration in the centre, with only a brief text or sometimes no text at all. Words spoken by the figures in the
miniaturesThe word miniature, derived from the Latin minium, red lead, is a picture in an ancient or medieval illuminated manuscript; the simple decoration of the early codices having been miniated or delineated with that pigment...
could be written on scrolls coming out of their mouths.
The
Biblia pauperum ("Paupers' Bible") was a tradition of picture
BibleThe Bible contains the central religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. Modern Judaism generally recognizes a single set of canonical books known as the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, as it is written almost entirely in the Hebrew language, with some small portions in Aramaic...
s beginning in the later
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
. They sought to portray the historical books of the Bible visually. Unlike a simple "illustrated Bible", where the pictures are subordinated to the text, these Bibles placed the illustration in the centre, with only a brief text or sometimes no text at all. Words spoken by the figures in the
miniaturesThe word miniature, derived from the Latin minium, red lead, is a picture in an ancient or medieval illuminated manuscript; the simple decoration of the early codices having been miniated or delineated with that pigment...
could be written on scrolls coming out of their mouths. To this extent one might see parallels with modern cartoon strips.
The tradition is a further simplification of the
Bible moraliséeThe Bible moralisée. is a later name for the most important of the medieval picture bibles, sometimes called "biblia pauperum", though they were extremely expensive, to have survived. It is a heavily illustrated illuminated manuscript of the thirteenth century, and from the copies that still...
tradition, which was similar but with more text. Like these, the Bibliae Pauperum were usually in the local vernacular language, rather than Latin.
Originally they took the form of colourful hand-painted
illuminated manuscriptAn illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations...
s on
vellumVellum is mammal skin prepared for writing or printing on, to produce single pages, scrolls, codices or books. It is generally smooth and durable, although there are great variations depending on preparation, the quality of the skin and the type of animal used...
, like the
Velislai biblia pictaThe Velislai biblia picta is an illuminated manuscript of 1325-1349, which is in effect a picture-book of the Bible, as the text is limited to brief titles or descriptions of the 747 pictures from The Old Testament and The New Testament, from the writings about the Antichrist and from the legends...
, though in the fifteenth century printed examples with
woodcutWoodcut — formally known as xylography — is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges...
s took over. The Biblia pauperum was among the commonest works put out in
block-bookWoodblock printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. As a method of printing on cloth, the earliest surviving examples from China date to before 220, and...
form, mainly in the Netherlands and Germany, where both text and images were done entirely in a single woodcut for each page. The first of many editions printed using
movable typeMovable type is the system of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document . The first known movable type system was invented in China by Bi Sheng out of ceramic between 1041 and 1048. Metal movable type was first invented in Korea during the Goryeo...
was printed in German, in
BambergBamberg is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg is one of the few cities in Germany that was not destroyed by World War II bombings because of a nearby Artillery Factory that prevented planes from...
in about 1462; There were about eighteen
incunabulumIncunabulum is the Latin for "swaddling clothes" or "cradle" and can refer to "the earliest stages or first traces in the development of anything." In printing, an incunabulum is a book, or even a single sheet of text, that was printed — not handwritten — before the year 1501 in...
editions.
Bibliae pauperum were not intended to be bought by the poor — some manuscripts were opulent and very expensive, although the block-book versions were far cheaper, and probably affordable by parish priests. The simpler versions were however probably used by clergy as a teaching aid for those who could not read, which included most of the population. The name Biblia Pauperum was applied by German scholars in the 1930s.
A 15th century illuminated manuscript example known as the "Golden Bible" is in the
British LibraryThe British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is located in London and is one of the world's largest research libraries, holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats; books, journals, newspapers, magazines, sound and music recordings, patents,...
. It contains fifty pages and on each the central pictures of an event from the Gospels is accompanied by two slightly smaller picture of
Old TestamentIn Christianity, the Old Testament is the collection of books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon. These works correspond to the Hebrew Bible , with some variations and additions. In the Eastern Orthodox Church the comparable texts are known as the Septuagint, from the...
events which prefigure the central one, according to belief of medieval theologians in
typologyTypology in Christian theology and Biblical exegesis is a doctrine or theory concerning the relationship between the Old and New Testaments. Events in the Old Testament are seen as pre-figuring events or aspects of Christ in the New Testament, and, in the fullest version of the theory, that is...
.
For example, the scene of
LonginusLonginus is the name given in medieval and some modern Christian traditions to the Roman soldier who pierced Jesus in his side with a lance while he was on the Cross...
spearing Jesus as he hangs on the Cross is accompanied by God bringing forth Eve from the side of Adam, and Moses striking the rock so that water flowed forth.
The
Biblia was rivalled by the
Speculum Humanae SalvationisThe Speculum Humanae Salvationis or Mirror of Human Salvation was a bestselling anonymous illustrated work of popular theology in the late Middle Ages, part of the genre of encyclopedic speculum literature, in this case concentrating on the medieval theory of typology, whereby the events of the Old...
(
Mirror of Human Salvation), another very popular compilation of typological pairings, with rather more text than the
Biblia. The iconographical programmes of these books are shared with many other forms of medieval art, including stained glass windows and carvings of biblical subjects. Since books are more portable than these, they may well have been important in transmitting new developments in depicting the subjects. Most subjects, such as the Announcement to the Shepherds, can be seen in a very similar form at different dates, in different media and different countries.
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