A Story in Print

Or: How a Single Print Tells an entire Story.

Most prints show a single, static image or moment in time. While researching and describing the Bible illustrations by Matthias Scheits, I noticed that his prints often show several parts of a story in a single print. Like the different panels of a comic book, but in a single plate.

The main subject of the print is depicted in the foreground, in this case John (the narrator of the Book of Revelation) kneeling in front of an angel handing him a book. On consultation of the referenced Bible passage (Revelation 10), this print proves to be a really faithful image: "And I [John] saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: / And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth".

The image shows exactly this! Moreover, the text continues: "And the angel [..] lifted up his hand to heaven, / And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, [..] Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. / And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up."

John kneels in the center of the image to receive the book, placing him solidly as the focal point of both the narrative and the image. The angel's right hand is raised in the gesture that accompanies solemn swearing ("and sware"). The angel's legs are literally pillars on fire, with the left leg on solid ground and the right on the sea. A rainbow surrounds the sun the Angel has for a face, exactly as described in the text. Only the final statement "and eat it up" is not actually depicted in this print. Detail of the left foreground.

The kneeling figure beside the cloudy sun-faced angel is far from the only subject of this convoluted image, however. To his right we see a seven-headed monstrosity threatening a winged female figure. Above the woman a toddler ascends into the clouds in a ray of light. "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars" (12:1) is how the Bible describes the woman. Again the image is faithful to the text. Although only 9 stars surround her head in the image, one can easily imagine the remaining three to be behind her head.

Then "there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. / And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born." (12:3-4). Anyone care to count heads and horns? I did: exactly seven heads, with only three heads having two horns, adding up to the quoted ten. A third of the stars may have been a little hard to depict, but they are there, near the tail of the Beast. By way of further condensation, the woman actually depicted here is from a verse later in the text, after the child was born: "And she brought forth a man child, [..] and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne." (12:5).

The angel's wings which the woman in the image has are referenced in an even later verse: "he [the Dragon] persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. / And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly" (12:13-14). Lord of the Rings, anyone? Anyway, the Dragon attacks the woman: "And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman" (12:15), which is depicted by the two heads pointed forward and gushing streams of water at the woman's feet. Detail of the right foreground.

The background tells yet another part of the story. Revelation 11:7-13, to be precise. In this part of the text "the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomloss pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them." (Revelation 11:7). See that monster in front of the temple, with the snake's tail and dragon's neck and head? Corpses are scattered in front of the Beast: "And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city" (Revelation 11:8). A little earlier in the text two prophets are introduced who return in verse 12: "And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud", which is depicted in the top left corner of the image, where two men ascend into the light on a cloud (again taking the text quite literally). The following verse of the Bible relates to the far background of the print, where buildings are falling apart: "And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell" (Revelation 11:13).

Detail of the background.

These three themes, following each other in quick succession in the text, are combined into a single apocalyptic plate. This obviously suits the themes of the Book of Revelation quite well, but this is just a single example. Numerous times in the designs by Matthias Scheits the events leading up to the central Biblical passage are depicted in the background or through a window (as in the examples below). This is perhaps partly done out of economy (it reduces the number of prints needed to illustrate a Bible drastically). One has to remember, though, that these prints in Bibles often served a didactic purpose for those who were unable to read. Depicting several parts of story in a single print helps to connect the various parts of the narrative into a single whole, exactly like this print does.

And, just to show that this is not an anomaly in this book, below are some more examples of multiple story parts in a single print.

Another example

In this Nativity print showing the Adoration of the Shepherds (Luke 2:16), the Annunciation to the Shepherds (Luke 2:8-13) is shown in the left window. In the central background image Christ is seen teaching in the temple during his youth. The right side of the background shows the Presentation in the Temple.

Another example.

While Jonah is seen climbing ashore after being ejected from the belly of the whale in the foreground (Jonah 2:10), in the left background the sailors cast Jonah overboard to be calm the sea (Jonah 1:15-17).

Another example.

In this print illustrating the Parable of Unforgiving Servant, we see the servant kneeling in supplication to his master (Matthew 18:26-27). The master forgives his servant's debt. The servant, however, goes outside to collect a debt owed to him by another servant directly afterward (Matthew 18:28-29) . Take a peek through that window or doorway on the left... Exactly!

Notes:

The prints are taken from "Tafereelen des Ouden en Nieuwen Testaments […] Tableaux du Vieux & Nouveaux Testament", Amsterdam: Josua & Reinier Ottens, 1754.

The plates for this print Bible were all designed by Matthias Scheits. Only a few of the engravings are signed by the engraver. Engravers who contributed to this work include Van Lamsvelt, Doesburgh and Van Buysen.

The woman on the moon sickle is also known as the Woman of the Apocalypse, identified as the Virgin Mary, making the male child issued by her Jesus Christ. The dragon, then, becomes a reference to Herod's attempt to kill the infant Jesus (on my birthday, December 28, the Massacre of the Innocents or Childermas).

All citations from the Bible are from the BibleGateway King James Version.