In the Beginning Was the Image: Art and the Reformation Bible

This pioneering study focuses on the decisive contributions of the three leading artists of the Northern Renaissance--Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach the Elder, and Hans Holbein the Younger-- to the printed Bible and to the transformation of ecclesiastical art in the Protestant Reformation. A time of artistic and theological revolution, the Renaissance and Reformation also witnessed a visual reformation of the Bible. In David H. Price's new interpretation, these artists emerge as major reformers in their own right who created a dynamic and innovative visual culture of biblicism. In the Beginning Was the Image explicitly addresses a key paradox of the Bible's new cultural status: as divergent Bible editions and translations shattered the unity of Christianity, new artistic approaches arose to accommodate theological and textual diversity. Rulers and theologians produced new Bibles as foundations for transformative socio-political movements, and their success, according to Price's compelling research, depended on the inventiveness and creativity of these artists. Written in a style designed to be accessible to a broad range of readers, Price's richly nuanced study explores the art of Dürer, Cranach, and Holbein and the biblical iconographies they developed to connect the new biblicism to faith and political authority.

Table of Contents:
1. In the Beginning Was the Image: Art and the Renaissance of the Bible 2. The Artist as Biblical Humanist 3. The Artist as Reformer 4. Dürer's Reformation: Art and Politics of Biblicism 5. Word Made Image: Cranach's Biblical Iconography 6. Holbein and the Art of the Heterogeneous Bible 7. Epilogue:

About the Author :
David H. Price is Professor of Jewish Studies, Religious Studies, History, and Art History at Vanderbilt University, where he specializes in early modern European history. He has written extensively on a broad range of topics, including Renaissance visual art, early modern literature, the Bible in the Reformation era, Christian-Jewish relations, and the history of books and printing. He is also the author of Johannes Reuchlin and the Campaign to Destroy Jewish Books.

Review :
"It is most unusual to find, in one and the same book, sensitive and learned art history, profound knowledge of biblical scholarship, and a nuanced understanding of the Reformation era. Yet that is what David Price presents here. He knows Cranach, Dürer, and Holbein like few other scholars: yet his awareness of how these figures interacted with their contexts makes this book a special joy to read." -- Euan K Cameron, Union Theological Seminary "David Price's new study is a tremendous achievement, offering new perspectives and radical differentiations that will change our understanding of this complex and much-studied period. Although the Renaissance is associated with the rediscovery of classical (pagan) culture, this groundbreaking new book shows DL through theoretically profound and enlightening analyses of major works of art DL the transformative role played by biblical philology inÂthe Renaissance and Reformation." -- Dr. Anne-Marie Bonnet, Institute of Art History, Friedrichs-Wilhelm-Universität "Indeed, this subtle analysis of word and image in Reformation-era German art does truly center on, and thoughtfully elucidates, the major printed biblical art by these principal masters. Price, already the author ofÂAlbrecht Dürer's Renaissance, has now added Lucas Cranach and Hans Holbein to his repertoire in this book, which will become a touchstone for both scholars and laity alike." -- Larry Silver, Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania