bavarikon4UDescription
Heinrich von Gloggnitz, mentioned in the schreiberverweis (writer's note), played a decisive role in creating the Formbach Bible as writer, editor and illuminator. In the text, however, several different hands can be distinguished, and at least one other artist was entrusted with the illuminations. The meticulous Gothic book hand of the biblical text is richly decorated with large capitals, with "lombards" (initials up to a height of three lines) and rubrics (headings written in red); in addition to purple and gold ink, high-quality gold plating was also used, some of which was also lavishly punch marked. The actual illuminations range from small to medium format and although they never fill the entire page, they belong to the best preserved in this art in terms of their artistic conception, image structure and above all the life-like individuality of those depicted. Among others, the title figures of the most important books of the Bible as well as the authors of the books of the New Testament are represented. The empathy and the accurate assurance with which even the tiniest details are captured on parchment are astonishing, in particular since they are accompanied by the most successful, most imaginative pictorial composition and an effective choice of colour, which despite its preference for a contrasting brightness is never gaudy. Datum: 2016
Author
Staatliche Bibliothek Passau