Bible Illustration in Netherlandish Prints of the Sixteenth Century

October 17, 2009 to January 24, 2010 


This is the first major exhibition of its kind to explore the central role played by printed illustrations from both the Old and New Testaments during one of the most dramatic artistic and religious transformations in European history. Prints are often viewed as merely mimicking or following artistic developments in the more prestigious medium of painting and, more generally, the visual arts are seen as mirroring societal change.  “Scripture for the Eyes” challenges these views and shows prints to have been a dynamic force both in the transformation of Northern European art between Albrecht Dürer and Rembrandt van Rijn and in the intensified attention to Scripture in the religious turmoil of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. Approximately 80 images from illustrated Bibles and books, as well as independent engravings and woodcuts will be featured. The exhibition is organized according to the diverse functions of the prints rather than according to a chronology of their production or a biblical narrative. The artists include Lucas van Leyden, Maarten van Heemskerck, Philips Galle, Hendrick Goltzius, and Hieronymus Wierix among others. “Scripture for the Eyes” is accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalog. The exhibition is curated by Dr. James Clifton, Director, the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation and Dr. Walter Melion, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Art History, Emory University. Organized by the Museum of Biblical Art, New York, and coordinated in Atlanta by Margaret Shufeldt, curator of works on paper at the Carlos Museum, “Scripture for the Eyes” will be on view from October 17, 2009 to January 24, 2010.

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1. Cornelis Anthonisz, Deathbeds of the Righteous and Unrighteous, 16th c.