The Velislaus Bible or Velislav's Bible (;

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

Velislai biblia picta) is an

illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared manuscript, document where the text is decorated with flourishes such as marginalia, borders and Miniature (illuminated manuscript), miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Churc ...

of 1325–1349. It is in effect a picture-book of the Bible, as the text is limited to brief titles or descriptions of the 747 pictures from the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

and the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

, from the writings about the

Antichrist In Christian eschatology, Antichrist (or in broader eschatology, Anti-Messiah) refers to a kind of entity prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ and falsely substitute themselves as a savior in Christ's place before ...

and from the legends of the saints, especially St Wenceslas. It is therefore an example of a

Biblia pauperum The (Latin for "Paupers' Bible") was a tradition of picture Bibles beginning probably with Ansgar, and a common printed block-book in the later Middle Ages to visualize the typological correspondences between the Old and New Testaments. Unlike ...

, though not in the typical form, having many more images. Most of the illuminations are only in ink, though some colour is used. The manuscript is of 188 folios on parchment, with a page size of 307 x 245 mm. It currently sits in the

Czech National Library The National Library of the Czech Republic () is the central library of the Czech Republic. It is directed by the Ministry of Culture. The library's main building is located in the historical Clementinum building in the centre of Prague, where ap ...

(Národní knihovna Ceské republiky),

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. The codex was created by several artists probably for Velislav the Canon (d. 1367), the

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is distin ...

John I of Bohemia John of Bohemia, also called the Blind or of Luxembourg (; ; ; 10 August 1296 – 26 August 1346), was the Count of Luxembourg from 1313 and King of Bohemia from 1310 and titular King of Poland. He is well known for having died while fighting ...

and his son

Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV (; ; ; 14 May 1316 – 29 November 1378''Karl IV''. In: (1960): ''Geschichte in Gestalten'' (''History in figures''), vol. 2: ''F–K''. 38, Frankfurt 1963, p. 294), also known as Charles of Luxembourg, born Wenceslaus (, ), was H ...

, who were both based in Prague.

Bibliography

*Panušková, Lenka, ed
''The Velislav Bible, Finest Picture-Bible of the Late Middle Ages: Biblia Depicta as Devotional, Mnemonic and Study Tool''
Central European Medieval Studies. Amsterdam University Press, 2018. *Richterová, Alena "Velislavova Bible" in: ''Grbad Biblio''; 2009, ročník 3, číslo 2 (13 pp.) *Uhlíř, Zdeněk: Velislavova bible = Velislai biblia picta = Velislaus Bible. Praha 2007.

External links

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* {{Authority control 14th-century books Christian illuminated manuscripts Illuminated biblical manuscripts Czech manuscripts National Library of the Czech Republic National cultural monuments of the Czech Republic