In the Beginning Was the Image

A visual transformation of the Bible took place in the Renaissance and Reformation. Initially, this occurred as a result of technological advances, for the printing press proliferated biblical texts and images on a previously unimaginable scale. Equally important, Reformation theology, though also a threat to art, served as a catalyst for the creation of innovative biblical iconography. In the Beginning Was the Image demonstrates the pivotal role that the defining artists of the Northern Renaissance--Albrecht Drer, Lucas Cranach, and Hans Holbein--played in the reformation of the Bible and the biblical transformation of Protestant art.