Bible in pictures

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Binding of an edition from 1903

The Bible in Pictures is a representation of the Old and New Testaments, first published in 1860, which, largely without the Bible text , tried to convey the most important scenes from the holy book of Christians through 240 wood engravings by the artist Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld . It developed into the most successful folk and children's Bible well into the 20th century.

history

Early phase in the Nazarene circle

The history of the project is closely linked to the Nazarenes living in Rome , German artists with a deeply Christian orientation. Friedrich Overbeck , the head of these so-called Luke Brothers , has evidently had the idea of ​​creating a cycle of New Testament scenes for use in schools since 1811, but without implementing these plans. In 1815 he brought the matter into the group of artists for the first time and met with a great response, but without taking any concrete steps to implement it.

The Creation of Eve , 1825

In 1819 IG Cotta'sche Verlag planned an illustrated edition of the Bible, with engravings based on the works of old masters, but this rekindled the interest of the Nazarenes in creating a Bible with pictures based on their own designs. In May 1821 an association of artists founded for this purpose held its first meeting. In a kind of competition, three or four scenes were to be awarded monthly for artistic processing and then the best results should be incorporated into the picture Bible. A pencil drawing by Eva (today in the Clemens-Sels-Museum, Neuss) also dates from this period, although it was not printed in this form in the end, but represents the oldest surviving testimony to Schnorr von Carolsfeld's work on the project. However, the association stopped its work within a year, and a second attempt in this direction remained fruitless in terms of achieving its ambitious plans.

Schnorr von Carolsfeld's own plans mature

As can be seen from letters, Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld must have dealt intensively with the project 'on his own' since 1824 at the latest and have already made a number of drawings, the scenic selection of which follows a systematic developed by him at the same time. The program of a Bible based only on the clarity of the picture can already be accepted for this phase.

Draft for repudiation , pen drawing from 1828

Even a call to the University of Munich in 1827 did not prevent work on the cycle. Despite confident messages from the artist, the work dragged on, which u. a. This was due to the fact that none of the personnel that Schnorr von Carolsfeld considered suitable for the technical implementation as copperplate engravings or lithographs was available. The financing also seems to have been uncertain, which is evident from the attempt in 1834 to persuade the Prussian Crown Prince to assume the costs. In addition, Carolsfeld now has doubts about the previous work. There is a longer pause.

Years later, a request from Cotta's bookstore activated the progress of the work: from 1843, Schnorr von Carolsfeld, like several other Lukasbrüder, contributed works to Cotta's illustrated Bible (published in 1850), which, however, no longer corresponded to what the artist had meanwhile considered Maxime had developed his own illustrated Bible because the illustrations in it actually only served to supplement the text and did not replace it. Because of these programmatic differences, Schnorr von Carolsfeld tried at the same time to realize his ideas and shortly after moving to Leipzig in 1846 made contact with the Leipzig publisher Georg Wigand, who in 1851 assured him of a publication on his terms.

Publication and Reprints

Joseph's chastity in the magnificent edition

The 42 self-cut woodcuts for the Cotta Bible, both as concrete works of art and as a source of work experience in this medium, formed the basis of the Bible in pictures , which appeared in 30 deliveries of eight sheets between October 1852 to December 1860, including 160 cuts to the old and 80 to the New Testament. The deliveries in the qualities of the popular edition, the superb edition, ie. H. with ornamental borders, and superb edition on china paper. At the end of the delivery the complete work came out in bound book form.

Special exhibitions

The Bible in Pictures has not only been translated into numerous languages ​​and reprinted many times, but is also taken up as an exhibition theme in museums. In 1983 the Clemens Sels Museum in Neuss curated a special exhibition on Schnorr's illustrated Bible and other biblical series of images by the Nazarenes. And from April 30 to July 31, 2016, the Lutherhaus Eisenach presented The Bible in pictures in its special exhibition room. Drawings by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld .

Expenses (selection)

  • The Bible in Pictures by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld. Magnificent edition, Leipzig: Wigand 1860
  • The Bible or all of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments and the Apocrypha. With family chronicle and eight cards; according to the German translation by Martin Luthers. With 240 biblical pictures by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld. Constance: Hirsch 1900
  • The Bible or the entire Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments: according to the German translation by D. Martin Luther. Text corrected according to the resolutions of the German Evangelical Church Conference . With the pictures by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld. Leipzig: Dt. Bible Society 1911
  • Picture Bible. 179 selected representations with accompanying Bible text. Neuhof, Kr.Teltow: Central Office for the Dissemination of Good German Literature 1924
  • Biblical images. (Choice of images and text design: Heinrich Mohn ). Gütersloh: Rufer-Verlag 1950 (issue in booklets)
  • The Bible in pictures: with Bible texts based on Martin Luther's German translation. 240 depictions invented and drawn on wood by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld. Neuhausen-Stuttgart: Hänssler 1990, ISBN 3-7751-1550-1

literature

  • G. Bruckbach: Picture Conversations: Julius Schnorr v. Carolsfeld's Bible in pictures. Explained by G. Bruckbach, Leipzig 1863
  • Otto Eberhardt: Egyptian motifs in the picture Bible of Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld . In: old and modern art 26, H. 176, 1981, pp. 25–28.
  • Otto Eberhardt: Older Bible illustrations as sources for the picture Bible of Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld . In: the minster. Journal for Christian Art and Art History. ISSN  0027-299X . Vol. 51, 1998, pp. 2-14.
  • Christine Reents: The Bible in Pictures by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld . In: Gottfried Adam / Rainer Lachmann (ed.): Children's and school bibles. Problems of their exploration . Göttingen 1999. S. 13ff, ISBN 3-525-61356-3 .
  • Irmgard Feldhaus: Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld. The Bible in Pictures and other biblical series of pictures of the Nazarenes . (Catalog for the exhibition in the Clemens-Sels-Museum Neuss November 28, 1982 - February 27, 1983) p. 6ff. Irmgard Feldhaus Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld The Bible in Pictures
  • Jutta Assel: German picture Bibles in the 19th century. In particular, Nazarene picture sequences on the Old and / or New Testament . In: Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld. The Bible in Pictures and other biblical series of pictures of the Nazarenes . (Catalog for the exhibition in the Clemens-Sels-Museum Neuss November 28, 1982 - February 27, 1983) p. 25ff. Jutta Assel German picture Bibles in the 19th century In particular, Nazarene picture sequences on the Old and / or New Testament
  • Adolf Schahl: History of the picture Bible Julius Schnorr von Carolsfelds . Leipzig 1936. (Art history dissertation)
  • Susanne Wittekind: King David, his wife and morality. "The Bible in Pictures" by Julius Veit Schnorr von Carolsfeld . In: Annelies Amberger (Ed.): “Per assiduum studium scientiae adipisci margaritam”. Announcement for Ursula Nilgen on her 65th birthday . EOS-Verlag, St. Ottilien 1997, ISBN 3-88096-358-4 , pp. 325–337.
  • Reinhold Mokrosch: Struwwelpeter or the Bible - what was the better moral primer? Children's Bibles in the 19th and 20th centuries . In: Georg Steins / Franz Georg Untergassmair (ed.): The book without which you can't understand anything. The cultural power of the Bible . Berlin: LIT, 2005. pp. 105ff, ISBN 3-8258-7969-0 .
  • Jochen Birkenmeier (Ed.): The Bible in Pictures. Drawings by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld [exhibition at Lutherhaus Eisenach from April 30 to July 31, 2016]. Eisenach 2016 (publications by the Lutherhaus Eisenach 2 Foundation), ISBN 978-3-9818078-0-6

Web links

Commons : The Bible in Pictures  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Seeliger, Stephan: Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld . Dresden 2005, p. 74 .