The Bible, on display at the Medieval Art Gallery in Warsaw, was printed more than 570 years ago by Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press. It is one of the few preserved copies in the world and the only one in Poland.
ADVERTISEMENTThe Gutenberg Bible from the Diocesan Museum in Pelpin is one of the most valuable and interesting preserved volumes in the world. In 1502, it was donated by Nicolaus Crapitz, the bishop of Warmia, to the Franciscan Reformed Convent in Lubawa, where it stayed until the 19th century. After the dissolution of that convent, it was placed in the Library of the Seminary in Pelpli.
Now, the priceless book, and one of the earliest works of the famed printer Gutenberg, is on show in Warsaw. Aside from being complete, with both of its volumes intact, its value stems from the fact that nearly all of its pages remain. It also possesses the original 15th-century binding.
Despite being printed several hundreds of years ago, the book has contributed to modern historical discoveries. It was thanks to a minor technical defect on one of the pages of the first volume that researchers were able to discover more about Gutenberg’s process. They determined that the mistake was made due to a shape in the font falling out of the mounting. Thus, new discoveries surrounding the movable type, arguably one of the most important inventions, were able to be made.
“The idea itself [of movable type] was extremely innovative, because it allowed printing many identical copies of a book in a very short time. The use of movable type allowed the printing technique to be disseminated in Europe, which is why this innovation by Johannes Gutenberg is considered a great breakthrough. Nevertheless, it should be remembered that in 15th-century Europe, people were eager to print, print pictures, and print books, but not from movable type,” says Marcin Bogusz, curator of the exhibition.
Back to the National Museum
Fate, however, was not always kind to the ancient book, despite its fame and international value. In the face of the war threat in 1939, the book was taken to Canada via Warsaw, Paris and Great Britain.
“It was taken to Canada, where it was deposited in a bank, and waited together with other objects most important for Polish culture and history, such as the manuscript of Gallus Anonymus’ chronicle or royal regalia, until the end of the 1950s, when it was sent back to Poland,” Bogusz adds.
It returned to Poland in 1959, but before it was brought back to Pelplin, where it originated, it was put on display for several days at the National Museum in Warsaw.
Preserving the unique work
In order to take care of the unique work, the presentation of the Gutenberg Bible required careful preparation. The bulletproof, air-conditioned display case maintains the appropriate conditions for the work: a temperature of approx. 20-23°C and relative humidity below 45-55%.
“Thanks to this, the most delicate substrate, which is paper, performs well and does not suffer,” explains curator Marcin Bogusz.
There are also restrictions to the way in which the book can be illuminated. The Bible can be exhibited for no more than 60 days a year, with only a small amount of artificial light – and away from the harmful UV radiation of the sun.
Pages rich in handwritten elements are particularly sensitive to light. Thanks to the efforts of art conservators, all these requirements allow experts to preserve this unique monument of European culture for future generations.
A journey through the culture of writing and books
The Bible display is accompanied by a thematic walking tour path devoted to the late medieval culture of writing and printed books. The walk will lead visitors along the path of painted and sculptural representations of books, people reading or writing, as well as inscriptions of various forms and functions.
Images of people with codices in their hands and inscriptions on medieval paintings are meant to help visitors realize how important a book was at that time.
But aside from influencing the way we consume books, writing, and media, the Gutenberg Bible also had an impact on important trends in the visual arts. Artists at the time also used prints, then a modern invention, in order to create their own works.
“Although it was accepted that in old workshops artists created compositions themselves, a normal practice in old art, quite popular and common, was for artists to reach for copperplate or woodcut images, which they copied in their works. This extraordinary popularity of copperplate engravings by Martin Schongauer or Albrecht Dürer shows us how incredibly popular printing was at the turn of the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance,” emphasizes the curator.
ADVERTISEMENTThe monuments in the Medieval Gallery that have been influenced by Gutenberg’s work have been marked with a special symbol.
Visitors familiar with the other works in the gallery can now see the impact of the precious book on countless other creations of the time period.
