Encounters at the Morgan (Part III) — Graphic Devotions: Late Medieval European Blockbooks

(L-R) Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471-1528), The Vision of the Seven Candlesticks, from The Apocalypse, 1498, woodcut, and The Four Horsemen, from The Apocalypse, 1498, woodcut

Of particular interest to me was Graphic Devotions: Late Medieval European Blockbooks, a current exhibition at the Morgan Library & Museum exploring a fascinating chapter in the history of Christian art and bookmaking.

Before movable type became the dominant means of printing, craftsmen produced illustrated volumes by carving both images and text into wooden blocks. These remarkable books brought sacred narratives, religious instruction, and devotional imagery to life through an intricate union of word and picture.

The Last Agony of the Dying Man
(from the Ars Moriendi or Art of
Dying) c. 1470/1475, woodcut with
hand-coloring on laid paper

Among the exhibition’s treasures is a rare Ars moriendi, or Art of Dying, a medieval work devoted to preparing the soul for death. Its survival and the reunion of its long-separated leaves make it especially noteworthy.

What absolutely astonished me was the inclusion of Albrecht Dürer’s The Vision of the Seven Candlesticks and The Four Horsemen, from his celebrated Apocalypse woodcut series. Both were considerably larger than I had imagined, and their extraordinary detail and dramatic power were all the more impressive in person. Reproductions in books and online simply cannot do them justice.

I have always admired the artistic and spiritual richness of medieval Christianity, and this exhibition offered a beautiful glimpse into an age when craftsmanship, faith, and artistic expression were intimately connected.

~ By Giovanni di Napoli, November 11th, Feast of San Martino di Tours

Apocalypsis sancti Johannis (Apocalypse of St. John), Edition III, state B, Germany (Koblenz/ Mainz?), edition: ca. 1455- 70; this copy: ca. 1458-60, blockbook

Biblia pauperum (Bible of the poor), Edition IV, state A, German Lower Rhine, edition: ca. 1462-68; this copy: ca. 1464-68, blockbook

Speculum artis bene moriendi (Mirror of the art of dying well), Southern Germany (region of Lake Constance)/Basel, ca. 1460-62, hybrid book

Ars moriendi (Art of dying), Edition II, state A, Low Countries/Lower Rhine (Cologne?), edition: ca. 1466-69; this copy: ca. 1468-69, blockbook

Apocalypsis sancti Johannis (Apocalypse of St. John), Edition IV, issue 2, Middle Rhine and southern Germany, edition: ca. 1468- 70; this copy: ca. 1469-70, blockbook

Ars memorandi per figuras Evangelistarum (Art of memorizing through images of the Gospels), Edition III, Southern Germany, ca. 1469-70, blockbook

Ars moriendi (Art of dying), Edition I, state A, Low Countries/Lower Rhine (Cologne?), edition: ca. 1400-09; this copy: ca. 1468-69, blockbook

Attributed to Ludwig of Ulm (German, active 1450- 70). Ars moriendi (Art of dying), Edition IV, state B, Southern Germany, edition: ca. 1480-85; this copy: ca. 1480, blockbook

"Morgan Apocalypse," England, London, ca. 1255-60, manuscript on vellum

"Hours of Gabriel de Chabannes," Illuminated by the Master of the Burgundian Prelates (act. 1470-90), France, Dijon, 1480s, manuscript on vellum