This exhibit aims to analyze the way that the authors and illustrators of the Saint John’s Bible depict Jesus. Due to how intentional the creators were when creating the visuals and symbols in the pages, we can discover so much about Jesus by looking at the artwork.
This exhibit presents the unique way in which the creators of the Saint John's Bible chose to visualize the Son of God. It goes without saying that the illustrators were under an immense amount of pressure while undertaking this task; how can one perfectly depict the Savior of mankind? Incredibly, the artists were able to capture the essence of Jesus Christ as fully human while maintaining his divine nature in their visual language. A beautiful blend of orthodox iconography and abstract imagery allowed the artists a way to both express God's unchanging nature and constant presence. This idea will be explained in more detail in the following tabs. Click on each image on the following pages to enlarge.
It is only in the Saint John's Bible that we see such a conventional image of Jesus alongside an image of Jesus wearing a sweatshirt and denim jeans. In a world of colorful interpretation and religious diversity, this may be the Bible we all need.
Sower and the Seed, Aidan Hart with contributions from Donald Jackson and Sally Mae Joseph, Copyright 2002,
The Saint John’s Bible, Saint John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Saint John’s Bible Heritage Program | Saint John’s University | PO Box 7222 | Collegeville, MN 56321
Phone: (320) 363-3209 | Email: sjbheritage@csbsju.edu
View main site at www.saintjohnsbible.org
Copyright © 2021 Saint John’s University.
For more information, please contact UASC at (509) 313-3873 or uasc@gonzaga.edu.
With the exclusion of one quote from Jim Triggs, every quotation is from the book "The Art of the Saint John's Bible" by Susan Sink. For the sake of visual simplicity, the only full citation will be included below, and each quote will be accompanied by the page number it is found on. Once again, all quotations can be found in:
Sink, Susan.The Art of the Saint John's Bible. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2012.
Kenzy Franco is a third-year student at Gonzaga University. She is a history major, art history minor, and one of the History department's interns. She spent her internship working in the University Archives and Special Collections for the Spring 2021 semester. One of her projects was to curate this digital exhibit.
