Single Leaf from a "Biblia Pauperum": Christ Crowned with Thorns (recto) Christ Carrying the Cross (verso) (c. 1410): Art, History and Details

Single Leaf from a "Biblia Pauperum": Christ Crowned with Thorns (recto) Christ Carrying the Cross (verso) (c. 1410) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Also known as the "Poor Men's Bible," the Biblia Pauperum was a simple picture book used to explain biblical prophecies and symbolism. These volumes served as an aid for preachers to demonstrate the unity of the Bible. The iconography of these popular books juxtaposed two Old Testament scenes with one from the life of Christ. In this example, the image of Christ crowned with thorns on one side and Christ carrying the cross between Abraham and Isaac on the way to sacrifice (on the left) and Elijah with the widow of Zarephath (right), on the other side. The Biblia Pauperum appeared first in manuscript form in the 1200s, became a popular picture book with miniatures in the 1300s, and after 1450 it emerged as a print book with woodcuts.

Object facts

• Title: Single Leaf from a "Biblia Pauperum": Christ Crowned with Thorns (recto) Christ Carrying the Cross (verso)
• Date: c. 1410
• Culture: Germany, Bavaria
• Type: Manuscript
• Technique: ink and tempera on vellum
• Dimensions: Sheet: 19.8 x 14.2 cm (7 13/16 x 5 9/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Gothic
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1958.255

Collection credit

Gift in honor of William M. Milliken from members of his staff, 1919-1958

Further reading listed by the museum

• “Gothic Art 1360-1440.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 50, no. 7 (September 1963): 174–215.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.