(11/1/15) The book “La Bibbia nella cultura e nell’arte " (The Bible in culture and art) was presented in Florence some days ago. It was published by UTET Grandi Opere for the Jubilee of Mercy and the texts taken from the Scriptures live together with biblical depictions of several artists.
The cover of the book shows “Adam and Eve”, a painting by Lucas Cranach the Older (1526) and the preface is by Msgr. Giuseppe A. Scotti, President of the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation. The essays have been written by Waldemar Chrostowski, professor of Theology and Exegesis of the Old Testament, Ratzinger Prize 2014, and Baruch A. Levine, biblist and full professor of Judaic Studies at the New York University. They stressed the great influence the Bible had on culture and art in Europe. Then there is an essay by Msgr. Timothy Verdon on the Bible in art, with 164 pictures of works related to the Bible and a collection of biblical texts that inspired the pictures. Msgr. Verdon, art historian, gave a lectio magistralis whose title was “the biblical account through the eyes ofLorenzo Ghiberti”.
The project also includes a book with the full text of the Holy Bible in the CEI version 2008 published in collaboration with the Vatican Publishing House.