Biblia Sacra
Bibles printed in the Netherlands and Belgium
Illustrations
I. Various artists
1. Jan Swart van Groningen, in: Bible. Antwerp, Willem Vorsterman, 1528.
Jan Swart was born around 1500 in Groningen and died after 1553, possibly in Antwerp. He was a painter and woodcut draughtsman. He designed the woodcuts for the Old Testament and the Apocalypse in the Vorsterman bible from 1528, the first bible that was completely illustrated. Some of the designs by Jan Swart were copied from German woodcuts.
2. Lieven de Witte, in: Bible. Antwerp, Hansken van Liesvelt, 1538.
Very little is known about Lieven de Witte. Various archives tell us that he was born around 1513 and died after February 1578. Karel van Mander mentions in his Schilder-boeck (1604) that he was active in Gent and that he was a good painter. He also designed glass windows for the current Sint Bavochurch in Gent. However, his woodcuts in Dat leven ons Heeren Christi Jesu (1537) are the only ones to have come down to us. These woodcuts were frequently reused and copied in bibles.
II. Representation of the biblical narrative
The representation of the biblical narrative sometimes varies, as the following examples show: