Forces of nature in old bibles

The biblical story of the Deluge, which only the God-fearing Noah survived with his clan and a selection of pairs of animals in his ark, has developed a lively history of reception and impact right up to the present day. The word »Sintflut« (Deluge) comes from the Old High German »sinvluot«, where »Sin-« means »always, everywhere«. Only in the 15th century did it become »Sündflut« (»sunden vlute«) - in the biblical narrative, however, the term »sin« does not appear. In the context of the story, however, man is described as »malicious«.

The narrative material of a Deluge can be found in many, especially very old, cultures: in the Ancient Orient and in Greek-Roman antiquity, but also among the Celts, the Germanic peoples, in India and China as well as among the Indian cultures of North America.

The »forty days« mentioned at the beginning for the duration of the flood stand next to other, deviating time specifications - there is no uniform chronology in the entire narrative process.

The description of the growing of the waters follows a three-step increase: first the place of the ark is under water, then the ark is lifted, and finally all high mountains are covered with water - the flood is omnipresent. This is followed by the disappearance of all life in three stages: All life goes under, dies and disappears from the earth.

It is a silent catastrophe: without storm, thunderstorm or earthquake.

The Deluge is certainly the most famous natural catastrophe recorded in the Old Testament. The story of Noah and his building of an ark has captured the imagination of the people. Therefore it is not surprising that this story is illustrated in many bibles. According to the biblical text, the ark was a three-story box. In the visual arts, however, the depiction of the ark as a billowing ship's hull prevailed and thus shaped our idea of this biblical story to this day.

Even the illustrations in the pre-Reformation German Bibles present Noah's Ark like a mighty ship, contrary to the Bible text. Martin Luther then had it depicted in box form, exactly as it is described in the biblical text. However, the depiction of the ark as a billowing ship on a roaring sea, which Johann Bocksperger (1525/35-1587) introduced into the Bible print, was exemplary. After his drawings, cut by the Zurich master Jost Amman (1539-1591), a picture album of the entire Bible was published in Frankfurt in 1564, which was to have a lasting influence on the Bible illustrations that followed.

1. Bible, Latin (1513)
Sanctus Hieronymus enterpres biblie […].
Lyon : Sacon ; Nürnberg : Koberger, 1513.
BFSt: 45 A 3

There are 250 known prints by the Nuremberg printer and bookseller Anton Koberger (ca. 1440-1513), in whose printing workshop Schedel's World Chronicle with about 1,800 woodcut illustrations was produced. After he completely stopped his own printing activities in 1504, he had three works printed by Jacques Sacon (born around 1472) in Lyon, including the Latin Bible from 1513 presented here.

In the center of the woodcut is the ark. The animals are located in the hull of a ship or protrude through a hatch from the roof. Noah and his wife stand harmoniously at the stern of the ship and look out over the roaring sea, where humans and animals fight for their lives.

2. Biblia: That is: the whole holy scripture: Deudsch. D. Mart. Luth. Auffs new edited.
Wittenberg : Lufft, 1548.
BFSt: 9 A 5

The present edition is the eleventh edition of the Luther Bible from the famous Wittenberg printing house of Hans Lufft (1495-1584) and the fourth edition after the edition of Martin Luther's last hand from 1545. In this Luther Bible, the ark is represented as a box, as in the original biblical text.

3. Biblia, That is: The whole Heylige Schrifft, German. D. Mart. Luth.
Samples a register, summaries, of all Capittel, and beautiful figures.
Frankfurt am Main : Rab ; Feyerabend ; Han, 1564
BFSt: 8 A 4

The depiction of the Deluge shown here, like most flood paintings, presents Noah's Ark with a round, strongly curved hull, and a tree that people climb to escape the water. This form of ark was introduced by Johann Bocksperger (1525/35-1587), after whose drawings, cut by the Zurich master Jost Amman (1539-1591), Sigmund Feyerabend (1528-1590) printed a picture album of the whole Bible in Frankfurt in 1564. The large woodcuts were subsequently included in many folio bibles.

4. Biblia, That is: The whole H. Schrifft, Old and New Testament [...].
Nuremberg : Endter, 1692.
BFSt: 1 A 9

In Nuremberg, the Endter family had been printing Luther Bibles since 1613. By 1792, 76 verifiable editions had appeared in this successful enterprise. Duke Ernst von Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg (1601-1675), known as the Pious, commissioned the printing of a Luther Bible in 1641 with text revised and supplemented by Thuringian theologians. All editions of this extremely popular work are called Kurfürstenbibel, Weimarer Bibel or Ernestinisches Bibelwerk. The illustrations could be added and supplemented according to the financial means and wishes of the customer. Among other things, this bible was equipped with numerous explanatory copper engravings, such as the detailed picture description of Noah's Ark. The ark is shown here true to the text as a three-story box. The focus is not on man and animal, as they fight for their lives in the floods, but rather a sober guide to the construction plan of the ark is given, as if one wanted to prepare contemporaries for the end of the world around 1700.

5. Biblia, That is the whole holy scripture [...].
Frankfurt am Main : Merians Erben, 1704
BFSt: 73 A 8

In 1630, the engraver Matthäus Merian the Elder (1593-1650) published a full Bible in Martin Luther's translation of 1545, which he equipped with personally made copper etchings. This work, known as the Merian Bible, is regarded as a highlight of 17th century Bible and book illustration. The Bible presented here was printed in 1704 by Merian's heirs using the original copper engravings from Merian's first illustrated Bible.

The copperplate engraving does not show the ark superficially, but the struggle of man and animal in the thundering waters trying to reach the saving shore.

6. Kratzenstein, Christoph Heinrich: Children's and Picture Bible that is: Excerpt of Biblical Histories [...]. Part 1.
Erfurt : Sauerländer, 1767.
BFSt: 65 B 8

This history and picture bible for children was first published in 1737/38. Illustrations were still a rarity in early literature for children and young people, but they increasingly became a central component of books for children, in an effort to convey learning content through direct visualization. In children's bibles, for example, the stories of the Old and New Testaments were presented in catechetical question-and-answer form and the pictures were added as a memorization aid. In this early children's Bible, too, the ark is staged as a huge, swaying ship on a roaring sea. The depiction of the strong, incessant rain that caused the flood is impressive. For educational reasons, the illustration is combined with a rhymed motto:
Ah! see how everything will pass away,
Let us stand in true repentance.

Sodom and Gomorrah are considered in the Old Testament as places of sin, which were destroyed by God. They are said to have been located in the area of the Dead Sea - in the area that Abraham's nephew Lot settled (Gen 13:10f). Asphalt and sulfur springs appear there, and the Dead Sea itself and its surroundings are also hostile places.

The grave sin of Sodom is justified in the biblical texts, for example, by pride, stinginess or the breaking of hospitality, whereas the sexual aspect (»sodomy«) only appears in the Christian tradition from Augustine onwards.

It is emphasized that God himself is the author of this catastrophe. The cities become a desert in which nothing grows anymore and nothing is built on. The fact that Lot's woman is frozen into a pillar of salt in the story can probably be traced back to the geological peculiarity of a pillar made of rock salt, which inspired people's imagination. Salt is also the third destructive element here, alongside sulfur and fire.

The further progress of the story again focuses on Abraham as the main character. Abraham is the only witness of this catastrophe - he alone is reserved the testimony for this criminal court. The Arabic name for the Dead Sea is by the way baẖr / buẖairat Lūṭ: »Sea/ Sea of Lot«.

At the center of the account of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt (2 Mo 1,1-15,21) is the detailed account of the ten plagues, which begin with the transformation of the water of the Nile into blood and end with the killing of the Egyptian firstborn.

If the mass reproduction of frogs (2 Mo 8,1-11) is initially only unpleasant, the six plagues of this narrative, which threaten the existence of the people, begin with the appearance of the leaves (2 Mo 9,8-12). The plague of locusts (2 Mo 10,1-20), as the eighth plague, is closely related to the previous hailstorm (2 Mo 9,13-35) - both plague narratives are similar in structure and contain a confession of sin by Pharaoh. On the questioning word of God to Pharaoh the threat is painted out: young tree shoots as a sign of hope after the devastating hailstorm are now completely destroyed by the locusts, and their voraciousness is further increased by the shortage. Even the interior of the houses is not safe from the locusts, something that has never been seen before in any generation of Egyptians. But even this plague, as well as the darkness that breaks in as the penultimate plague (2 Mo 10,21-29), does not make Pharaoh relent, for »the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart,« as it is said even after the tenth and most terrible plague - the killing of the Egyptian firstborn.

In Egyptian sources there are no indications of such an event. The plague narrative is not a historical factual report, but it does connect natural and catastrophic phenomena in a compositional way with the story of the people of Israel's salvation.

1. Biblia, This is the whole holy scripture [...].
Frankfurt am Main: Merians Erben, 1704
BFSt: 73 A 8

In 1630, the engraver Matthäus Merian the Elder (1593-1650) published a full Bible in Martin Luther's translation of 1545, which he equipped with personally made copper etchings. This work, known as the Merian Bible, is regarded as a highlight of 17th century Bible and book illustration. The Bible presented here was printed in 1704 by Merian's heirs using the original copper engravings from Merian's first illustrated Bible. On the illustration it is easy to see how the frogs occupy the public life in the squares and in the houses.

2. Bible, Low-German (1545)
Biblia: Dat ys: De gantze Hillige Schrifft […].
Magdeburg : Walther, 1545.
BFSt: Canst:1788

Martin Luther (1483-1546) continuously revised the text of his Bible translation. This is how four Luther Bibles in Low German were created (Lübeck 1534, Magdeburg 1536, Wittenberg 1541 and Magdeburg 1545). Since Low German was also common as a written language in Northern Germany, the Magdeburg printer Hans Walther (1500-?) could count on a wide paragraph of this Bible. The numerous woodcuts were made by Georg Lemberger (1495-1540), who took the illustrations from the workshop of Lukas Cranach (1472-1553) as his model. These illustrations contributed to the high rank of the Magdeburg Bible edition of 1545.

On the woodcut, Moses, recognizable by the two horns, is standing in front of a castle over which the locusts circle. He is thus placed in an ambience that was familiar to the viewers from their time. Thus the depiction of the plague appeared more authentic to the viewer and brought the disturbing events closer to him.

3. The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament. With 230 pictures by Gustav Doré.
T. 1. 4th ed.
Stuttgart : Hallberger, 1867.
BFSt: A:234:1

Gustave Doré (1832-1883) is considered one of the most important book illustrators of the 19th century. He illustrated a total of 90 works. His greatest success was the Bible with 230 wood engravings. The French edition published in Tours in 1866 was quickly followed by further editions in various languages. The German edition was first published in 1867/70 by Eduard Hallberger (1822-1880) in Stuttgart. The Doré Bible is still the most sold and globally most popular illustrated bible ever.

Doré liked to use the chiaroscuro technique, which contrasts light and dark painting. This technique was masterfully executed in the present illustration of the three-day darkness.

The book of the Revelation of John, written towards the end of the 1st century, belongs to the group of the Apocalypse writings. The Greek word »Apocalypsis« can be translated as »unveiling«, »revelation« or »revelation«.

The writings and books belonging to the apocalyptic group in the Old Testament and in the late Jewish environment describe an eschatological event, marked by the judgment of God and the final victory over evil. The New Testament book of the Revelation of John takes up this thinking, in that now the crucified and risen Christ - the »Lamb« - becomes Lord and finisher of history. The catastrophic events leading up to the completion of the »City of God« represent the suffering and persecution of early Christendom as a final upsurge of anti-God powers.

The book in the hand of God, closed with seven seals, indicates God's plan spanning the history of the world. The solution of the sixth seal indicates the plagues that will come in the end times (Rev 6,12-17). The catastrophic phenomena mentioned correspond to the signs at the crucifixion of Jesus. The earthquake stands for the change of circumstances, the darkening of the sun and moon for the divine wrath, which is revealed in still further appearances.

With the sound of the seven trumpets the Last Judgement begins. The first six trumpets invoke the various acts of the judgment of destruction (Rev 8,6-8), while the seventh trumpet indicates the coming of eternal salvation. The seven trumpets correspond in every detail to the seven visions of the bowls of wrath that will be poured out on the world that rebels against God (Rev 16,17-19). In the final act the antichristian world power is portrayed as the »great whore of Babylon«, who once again rises to a terrible height, but is then overthrown from her height (Rev 18).

The Revelation of John has been part of the canon of Christian iconography since the early Middle Ages. Even in early illuminated manuscripts, the Apocalypse of John is illustrated and commented on. With the advent of printing, the depiction of the Apocalypse became widespread. In a time of political and religious upheavals characterized by expectations of the end of time, interest in apocalyptic themes increased around 1500. The secret revelation of Iohannis, Latin Apocalipsis cum figuris, which Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) published in 1498, became famous because this work contained 15 woodcuts that were to become formative for further illustrations of the Revelation of John. Thus the Lutheran Bible illustration was concluded from the workshop of Lukas Cranach the Elder. (1472-1553) joined the motifs of Dürer.

The Revelation of John can be regarded as the great "angel book" of mankind. Here the angels do not only appear temporarily, but drive the cosmic and world-historical upheavals until the end of time as actors themselves. That is why the angels in the Bible illustrations for the Apocalypse are extremely lively, imaginative and splendidly designed.

1. Prophets all Germans.
Wittenberg : Kraffts Erben, 1584.
BFSt: 36 A 9

Hans Lufft (1495-1584) was the most important Bible printer in Wittenberg. The High German Luther Bible was printed by him until 1572. After 1572, Johann Krafft the Elder was appointed. (?-1578), who worked in Wittenberg from 1549, was also entrusted with the printing of the Bible. He is considered the most important Wittenberg Reformation printer in the second half of the 16th century. After his death, his heirs continued the office in Wittenberg.

The woodcuts are from different masters. The illustrations for the Revelation are based on the Wittenberg original prints of the September and December Offices. After the opening of the seventh seal, seven angels blow their trumpets and thus bring further disaster. The illustration shows the first angel with the trumpet standing right above the clouds. Fires with blood fall from heaven and set the city in the background on fire.

2. Prophets all Germans.
Wittenberg : Kraffts Erben, 1584.
BFSt: 36 A 9

Johann Krafft the Elder (?-1578) is considered the most important Wittenberg Reformation printer in the second half of the 16th century. After his death, his heirs continued the business in Wittenberg.

The woodcuts are from different masters. The illustrations for the Revelation are based on the Wittenberg original prints of the September and December Offices. The Bible illustration impressively sets the scene for the second angel with the trumpet: the fiery mountain plunges into the sea, so that the people on the ships get into distress.

3. Bible, Bohemian (1537)
Biblij Czeska w starem miestir Przskem wytisstiena.
Prague: Seweryn, 1537.
BFSt: 6 A 10

This full Bohemian Bible, published in Prague in 1537, was published and printed by Pawel (Paul) Seweryn (?-1554) from Kapí Hora (Kapenberg). It was illustrated with copies of the extensive cycle that was created in 1534 for the Wittenberg printing of Luther's first German full Bible, the so-called Cranach Bible. The coloration of the woodcuts in this copy appears clumsy, as if it had been done by assistants. Nevertheless, the coloration makes the depiction more vivid and illustrative and impressively demonstrates the force of the events to the viewer.

While in the September Testament the burning Babylon could still be recognized as Rome, it was now depicted as Worms. With this symbolism, reference was made to the fall of the Edict of Worms, a decree of Charles V (1500-1558) on the Imperial Diet of Worms in 1521, with which the imperial charter was imposed on Luther.

1. The New Testament Deutzsch. Translated by Martin Luther. woodcarving by Lucas Cranach the Elder
Wittenberg : Lotter, 1522 [December Testament].
BFSt: Canst:1783

Only three months after the publication of Martin Luther's (1483-1546) September Testament of 1522, the edition of about 3,000 copies was sold out. In December the revised edition, known as the December Testament, was published. As in the September Testament, the woodcuts by Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), which Lukas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) had cut in his workshop in a reduced size, served as the model for the illustration of the »Book of Revelation« (Apocalypse).

2. The New Testament Deutzsch. [Translated from Martin Luther. Holzschn. by Lucas Cranach the Elder].
Wittenberg : Lotter, 1522nd [September Testament].
BFSt: 9 A 9

At the instigation of Philipp Melanchthon (1497-1560), Martin Luther (1483-1546) began translating the New Testament on the basis of the original Greek text at the Wartburg Castle in December 1521. After a joint review with Melanchthon, the translation went into print at the beginning of May 1522. This was completed in September 1522 (hence »September Testament«). The »Newe Testament Deutzsch« was published in Wittenberg as a folio volume decorated with 21 woodcuts and numerous initials.

The time-critical illustrations from the Cranach workshop on the Revelation of John contributed to the overwhelming success of this edition. The illustrations for the »Book of Revelation« (Apocalypse) were based on woodcuts by Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), which were very well known and popular at the time. Lukas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) had them trimmed down and recut in his workshop.

The time-related representation of Babylon corresponds to the topography of Rome in the World Chronicle by Hartmann Schedel (1440-1514), Nuremberg 1493. In the September Testament, the city view of Rome with Capitol and Castel Sant'Angelo also served to illustrate the lament about burning Babylon (Revelation 18).