Holy Beauty: Northern Renaissance Prints Discovered in an Early English Bible

Organized by Professor Ricardo De Mambro Santos, the exhibition features as its centerpiece the Hexham Abbey Bible, a rare 17th-century English Bible printed in Cambridge, England in 1629. The Bible includes 110 16th-century Dutch and Flemish prints that were interpolated into the volume after it was printed.

Prints within the Bible include works attributed to Philip Galle (Dutch, 1537-1612), after Maarten van Heemskerck (Dutch, 1498-1574); Hieronymus Cock (Flemish, 1518-1579), Jan Sadeler (Flemish, 1550-1600), and Maerten de Vos (Flemish, 1532-1603), among others.

The Bible recently came to light when it was purchased by Bruce Martin, President of Historic Bibles & Engravings in Albany, Oregon, who contacted Professor De Mambro Santos to learn more about his intriguing discovery.  Bruce Martin says, "What makes this particular Bible remarkable is that it represents the only known English Bible with engravings dating from the 16th century."

The Bible has been dubbed "The Hexham Abbey Bible" due to internal evidence that links the creation of the Bible to George Ritschel, Sr., who was a Lutheran turned Anglican, and a lecturer at Hexham Abbey in Northumberland, UK. 

Visitors will have an opportunity to scroll through the Bible via touch screens in the Study Gallery. In addition, the exhibition will include 35 16th-century Dutch and Flemish prints—some like those found in the Bible and others of the period—on view in the Print Study Center and the Maribeth Collins Lobby.

The Bible includes more than 110 full-page Old Master engravings dating from the later half of the 1500’s, which were inserted into the volume after it was printed. Includes works by Heemskerck, Galle, Cock, Wierix, Sadeler, de Vos, Goltzius, van den Broeck, and many more

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website