Telltale Objects
This series shares the stories of interesting artifacts at Willamette.
When an Oregon collector presented Ricardo De Mambro Santos with a historic bible a few years ago, the associate professor of art was lost for words. He was simply thrilled to hold a nearly pristine first edition, 17thcentury King James Bible, lined with centuries-old Dutch and Flemish prints and copper engravings. “Half the history of 16th-century Europe is encapsulated in this Bible,” says De Mambro Santos, who researched the historic item for two years with a group of Willamette students and alumni. “It’s like having the Sistine Chapel come to you.” The Hexham Abbey Bible — named after a church in a northeast England town — went on public display for the first time in a two-month exhibit at Hallie Ford Museum of Art earlier this spring. The Hexham Abbey Bible is the only known English version with engravings from the 16th century. Even more outstanding is the fact the 110 images — from renowned artists including Pieter Bruegel and Hendrick Goltzius — were inserted after the Bible was published in 1629. The Bible’s owner was likely inspired by 17thcentury Czech philosopher, educator and theologian John Comenius — who believed images should be used as educational tools — to strategically add artwork as a conversation piece. After all his research on the book he calls a “portable museum” and a “condensed cathedral,” De Mambro Santos says the Hexham Abbey Bible offers many more potential insights into centuries of art, history, religion and culture. Almost 400 years after its creation, this holy object still inspires wonder.
Top: Hexham Abbey Bible, printed by Thomas and John Buck in Cambridge, England, 1629. Left: Jan Sadeler (Flemish, 1550-1600), after Maerten de Vos (Flemish, 1532-1603), The Creation of Animals, 1587, copper engraving. From the collection of Historic Bibles & Engravings, Albany, Oregon. 54
SPRING 2018