Scripture for the Eyes: Bible Illustration in Netherlandish Prints of the Sixteenth Century
Saturday, October 17, 2009 - Sunday, January 24, 2010
Scripture played a central role in Christianity from its beginnings, but it was only with the introduction of moveable type in the 15th century that it began to reach a broad reading public, and only with the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation movements of the 16th century was that public encouraged to develop a culture of biblical study. Early in the 16th century in the Netherlands, Bibles in the vernacular with woodcut illustrations began to be produced and were soon followed by independent prints illustrating scripture and other devotional works. The trickle of such images at the beginning of the century was a flood by its end, with thousands of prints produced and marketed by scores of draftsmen, engravers, and publishers.
The Protestant Reformation, with its emphasis on scripture alone as a means to knowing and worshiping God, threatened many of the practices—including the use of images in liturgy and devotion—that the church had constructed, over the centuries, as part of its faith. Some reformers were hostile to the presence of pictorial art in churches, claiming its use to be idolatrous and calling for its destruction. The Catholic Church defended the use of images at the Council of Trent in 1563, and the controversy over art remained a point of contention among confessions. Prints seem to have been the target of iconoclastic impulses much less than painting and sculpture, probably because they were intended for private rather than public consumption.
The political movement that sought independence from Spain in the 16th century was allied with the religions movements that sought independence from the Catholic Church. The politics of the northern provinces came to be dominated by Calvinist reformers, while the southern Netherlands, ultimately retained by Spain, remained officially Catholic. For the period of most active printmaking covered by this exhibition, from around 1550 to 1600, both politics and religion were in flux. Publishers and printmakers were reticent about their own religious inclinations and marketed their works to both Catholics and Protestants. Religious prints drew on scriptural sources and focused on universally acceptable moral and devotional themes that would appeal to as broad an audience as possible.
The production of a print required the conception of the idea, the drawing of the composition, the cutting of the woodblock or metal plate, the pulling of impressions on paper, and the publication of the final product, as well as, occasionally, composing inscriptions, calligraphy, and hand coloring. An individual might fulfill more than one of these roles, even all of them.
In terms of technical and artistic quality, scripture illustrations in the 16th century ranged from small, simple woodcuts to elaborate and painstakingly cut engravings. For most of their audience, the subject matter and religious function of the prints seem to have been of paramount importance, and many buyers, regardless of social or educational class, might well be as content with a crude, pirated copy as with a fine original. There is no doubt that connoisseurs valued the aesthetic qualities of prints, but high aesthetic quality did not necessarily exclude or overshadow doctrinal meaning and devotional function.
Although many of the prints produced in the Netherlands in the 16th century are specific to the time and place, early modern printmaking was an international phenomenon, in both production and consumption. Already at the beginning of the century the graphic work of the German artist Albrecht Dürer was known, collected, and imitated, from the Netherlands to Italy, as was the work of Hendrick Goltzius at the end of the century. The 16th century Netherlandish school of printmaking is among the most prolific and brilliant in the history of European art, and much of the work was produced within a stimulating, if also challenging, religious environment. Yet as specific to its time and place as the work might be, its treatment of scriptural themes, especially in the handling of the complex interplay between image and sacred text, resonates even now, as neither the imagery nor scripture has lost its force.
The exhibition was organized by the Museum of Biblical Art, New York. Support for the exhibition in Atlanta was made possible by Emory University, the Massey Charitable Trust, and the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Educational programs in conjunction with the exhibition were made possible by grants from Ed and Dina Snow, Burr & Forman LLP, Emory College of Arts & Sciences Center for Creativity and the Arts’ David Goldwasser Series in Religion and the Arts, Emory University Strategic Initiative in Religion and the Arts, the Hightower Lecture Fund, the Lovis Corinth Lecture Fund, the Consulate General of the Kingdom of Belgium, and the Aquinas Center of Theology.
The Protestant Reformation, with its emphasis on scripture alone as a means to knowing and worshiping God, threatened many of the practices—including the use of images in liturgy and devotion—that the church had constructed, over the centuries, as part of its faith. Some reformers were hostile to the presence of pictorial art in churches, claiming its use to be idolatrous and calling for its destruction. The Catholic Church defended the use of images at the Council of Trent in 1563, and the controversy over art remained a point of contention among confessions. Prints seem to have been the target of iconoclastic impulses much less than painting and sculpture, probably because they were intended for private rather than public consumption.
The political movement that sought independence from Spain in the 16th century was allied with the religions movements that sought independence from the Catholic Church. The politics of the northern provinces came to be dominated by Calvinist reformers, while the southern Netherlands, ultimately retained by Spain, remained officially Catholic. For the period of most active printmaking covered by this exhibition, from around 1550 to 1600, both politics and religion were in flux. Publishers and printmakers were reticent about their own religious inclinations and marketed their works to both Catholics and Protestants. Religious prints drew on scriptural sources and focused on universally acceptable moral and devotional themes that would appeal to as broad an audience as possible.
The production of a print required the conception of the idea, the drawing of the composition, the cutting of the woodblock or metal plate, the pulling of impressions on paper, and the publication of the final product, as well as, occasionally, composing inscriptions, calligraphy, and hand coloring. An individual might fulfill more than one of these roles, even all of them.
In terms of technical and artistic quality, scripture illustrations in the 16th century ranged from small, simple woodcuts to elaborate and painstakingly cut engravings. For most of their audience, the subject matter and religious function of the prints seem to have been of paramount importance, and many buyers, regardless of social or educational class, might well be as content with a crude, pirated copy as with a fine original. There is no doubt that connoisseurs valued the aesthetic qualities of prints, but high aesthetic quality did not necessarily exclude or overshadow doctrinal meaning and devotional function.
Although many of the prints produced in the Netherlands in the 16th century are specific to the time and place, early modern printmaking was an international phenomenon, in both production and consumption. Already at the beginning of the century the graphic work of the German artist Albrecht Dürer was known, collected, and imitated, from the Netherlands to Italy, as was the work of Hendrick Goltzius at the end of the century. The 16th century Netherlandish school of printmaking is among the most prolific and brilliant in the history of European art, and much of the work was produced within a stimulating, if also challenging, religious environment. Yet as specific to its time and place as the work might be, its treatment of scriptural themes, especially in the handling of the complex interplay between image and sacred text, resonates even now, as neither the imagery nor scripture has lost its force.
The exhibition was organized by the Museum of Biblical Art, New York. Support for the exhibition in Atlanta was made possible by Emory University, the Massey Charitable Trust, and the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Educational programs in conjunction with the exhibition were made possible by grants from Ed and Dina Snow, Burr & Forman LLP, Emory College of Arts & Sciences Center for Creativity and the Arts’ David Goldwasser Series in Religion and the Arts, Emory University Strategic Initiative in Religion and the Arts, the Hightower Lecture Fund, the Lovis Corinth Lecture Fund, the Consulate General of the Kingdom of Belgium, and the Aquinas Center of Theology.
