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 thedefining artists of the Northern Renaissance—Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach, and Hans Holbein—played in the reformation of the Bible and the biblical transformation of Protestant art.