bavarikon4UBiblia pauperum (Pauper`s Bible)
The "Biblia pauperum", an anonymous work written in Latin around the middle of the 13th century, belongs to the genre of the Paupers' Bible that was widely used in the late Middle Ages. The unity of both testaments' history of salvation is illustrated by means of typology and in the strict context of the image and text: each image group consists of a New Testament representation (antitypus), which is assigned to models of the Old Testament (types) (pre-configuration). The prophets' sayings serve as explanatory texts; tituli accompany the scenic illustrations and there are also brief lessons. The oldest preserved manuscripts of the Biblia pauperum date from the early 14th century from Benedictine monasteries and Augustinian canons in Bavaria and Austria.
This manuscript offers a German version between 1360 and 1375. The increased number of picture groups (41), the narrative and scenic expansion of the text as well as the Latin tituli, whereby only the Crucifixion of Christ or its antitype to the picture group is contained in Cgm 20, are typical for the German narrative Paupers' Bible. The highly Gothic coloured pen drawings of courtly elegance in flat style are particularly important for iconography.
