Scripture for the Eyes: Bible Illustration in Netherlandish Prints of the Sixteenth Century

by James Clifton, Walter S. Melion

This new volume opens up our understanding of the design, production and market for Biblical prints and illustrated Bible images in 16th century Flanders, and explores the central role they played in one of the most dramatic artistic and religious transformations in European history.

Prints are often seen as merely following artistic developments in the more prestigious medium of painting and, in turn, the visual arts are seen as mirroring changes in society, but this groundbreaking book challenges these views. Featuring approximately 130 engravings, woodcuts, and illustrated Bibles and books by Lucas van Leyden, Maarten van Heemskerck, Philips Galle, Hendrick Goltzius, Hieronymus Wierix and others, it reveals that biblical prints were a dynamic force both in the transformation of Northern European art between Albrecht Durer and Rembrandt van Rijn, and in the intensified attention to Scripture in the religious turmoil of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation.

224 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2009