Master of the Zwolle Bible

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Initial P with Samson representation at the beginning of the Book of Judges

The illuminator who is not known by name and who illustrated the so-called Zwolle Bible from 1464 to 1476 is referred to as the master of the Zwolle Bible . This is a copy of the Bible in Latin that a cleric from Utrecht had commissioned from the brothers who lived together in Zwolle in the Netherlands. The work gives the artist his emergency name .

The six monumental volumes of the Zwolle Bible , each almost half a meter high and wide, contain the text of the Vulgate . It was copied by Jacobus van Enckhuysen , the brothers' librarian. His text was decorated with 125 magnificent initials by the master of the Zwolle Bible - possibly with the help of a confrere first . Master of the Zwolle Bible may thus identify more than one miniature painter , as the illustration in the first volume of the Bible shows different lines. Around 50 of the initials were lost in the Middle Ages when the showpiece was on display in the Marienkirche in Utrecht - they were cut out by “souvenir hunters”. The Bible with the preserved initials has been kept in the library of the University of Utrecht since 1840 .

Works (selection)

  • Zwolle Bible , 1464–1476. Utrecht, Universiteit Utrecht, Universiteitsbibiotheek UB: Cat 31 and 15.C.11 [1]

Other works are assigned to the master of the Zwolle Bible or his environment, for example: B .:

  • Book of hours , around 1470 to 1490. The Hague, Koninklijke Bibliotheek KB, 133 H 31 [2]
  • Initial from a book of hours , around 1470 to 1480. Cleveland, Museum of Art - The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection CMA 1999.134 [3]

swell

  • Zwolse Bijbel Hs. 31 . In: Virtuele vitrine , virtual library of the Utrecht University Library. Accessed September 6, 2009. [4] (Dutch)
  • K. van der Horst: Illuminated and decorated medieval manuscripts in the University Library, Utrecht. An illustrated catalog . Maarssen / 's-Gravenhage 1989, pp. 22–24 (English)
  • R. Stiftel: "Holland Art Cities": Utrecht shows book illumination . Westfälischer Anzeiger (online edition of July 23, 2009)

Web links

  • Master of the Zwolle Bible, Miniature of Samson Miniature of Samson at '' Virtual Vitrine '', online exhibition of the Utrecht University Library
  • Master of the Zwolle Bible, initial from a book of hours in Cleveland, Museum of Art Initial H.
personal data
SURNAME Master of the Zwolle Bible
BRIEF DESCRIPTION medieval illuminator
DATE OF BIRTH 15th century
DATE OF DEATH 15th century or 16th century