Summer 2009: Of Note

Illustration

A page from the Antwerp Polyglot Bible

Courtesy University Libraries

Biblical Scripture for the Eyes

Two of Emory’s libraries are contributing items to a national exhibition showcasing Biblical illustrations, which will come to the Michael C. Carlos Museum in the fall.

Scripture for the Eyes: Bible Illustration in Netherlandish Prints of the Sixteenth Century is the first major exhibition to explore the form, function, and meaning of printed Biblical images produced in the sixteenth-century Low Countries.

The show will run through September at the Museum of Biblical Art (MOBIA) in New York before coming to Emory October 17 to January 24, 2010. The Antwerp Polyglot Bible, published in the sixteenth century by Christopher Plantin, one of the greatest early printers, is perhaps the most significant item loaned by Emory, says Walter Melion, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Art History and cocurator of the exhibit. The Antwerp Bible was published in several different languages, printed side by side.

“We have one of the most beautiful copies,” says Melion. “It’s a grand folio book, so it’s very large. And several of the volumes have exquisite pictorial title pages.”

Pitts Theology Library contributed five of the eight volumes comprising the Antwerp Bible.