What movement is Illustration and Border Design for Kupfer-Bibel (Copper Bible)?

Illustration and Border Design for Kupfer-Bibel (Copper Bible) is associated with Baroque.

Artwork

Illustration and Border Design for Kupfer-Bibel (Copper Bible)

Illustration and Border Design for Kupfer-Bibel (Copper Bible) is a drawing by the Baroque artist Johan Melchior Füssli. It dates from 1730 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

About this work

Overview

Created around 1730 by Swiss artist Johan Melchior Füssli, this drawing serves as an illustration and decorative border for the Kupfer‑Bibel, a copper‑plate Bible. The work is part of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s collection and exemplifies the intricate ornamental designs that accompanied early‑modern printed texts.

Subject & Meaning

The central vignette depicts a small group of figures in an imagined garden set against a gentle hill. The figures, dressed in period costume, are positioned near cultivated plants and a solitary palm tree, while a distant castle crowns the horizon, suggesting a harmonious blend of nature, architecture, and human activity.

Technique & Style

Füssli employed fine pen work to render both the interior scene and the surrounding frame. The border is densely populated with miniature motifs—birds, vines, flowers, and fruit—arranged in a symmetrical, baroque rhythm that emphasizes decorative richness and the tactile quality of the copper‑plate medium.

History & Provenance

The drawing was produced as a preparatory design for the Kupfer‑Bibel, an early 18th‑century illustrated Bible printed on copper plates. It entered the Cleveland Museum of Art’s holdings through acquisition in the mid‑20th century, where it remains a representative example of Swiss book illustration from the period.

Context

Füssli’s work reflects the broader baroque aesthetic that favored elaborate ornamentation and dynamic compositions in religious publications. The integration of narrative illustration with an ornate border illustrates the period’s aim to enhance devotional texts with visual splendor, aligning spiritual content with artistic grandeur.