Design of the Gospel Books for the German-Speaking Bishops’ Conferences – Artist’s Edition

Artistic Design

This design follows in the tradition of sacred book design, yet remains contemporary. The overall design of this Gospel book draws on the tradition of historical sacred book design and adapts it to the present day.

Among all the books of Sacred Scripture, which form the foundation of the Christian faith, the Church holds the four Gospels in special veneration. “For they are the principal witness to the life and teaching of the Word made flesh, our Redeemer.” (Dei verbum 18) Given this significance, they are preserved, encircled by two “ribbons” that are wrapped in the shape of a cross around the entire text of the book, much like relics enshrined in an altar. These bands extend from the flyleaf, over the two-tone gold edging, to the endpaper. The entire collection of texts is encased and protected by a book cover.

On the book’s cover, the openings of the four Gospels are abstractly positioned on the front, and their closings on the back, in Ancient Greek. The four Gospels tell the single story of salvation under the sign of the cross; this cross emerges as an (empty) cross through the positioning of the texts on the book cover and continues the motif of the cross found in the book block and the gold-edged pages.

As an additional layer, an expressive mandorla shape is superimposed over the text, drawing the viewer, as it were, into the book. On the one hand, the artistic drawing serves as a bridge to the design of the new lectionaries; on the other hand, it is a reference to the depiction of Christ enthroned within the mandorla. A golden cross is depicted on the reverse side.

The artist’s edition is the ideal realization of the overall artistic concept. To achieve the desired three-dimensional effect, the highest-quality materials are crafted by established artisans. The book is bound in heavy silk duchesse featuring relief embroidery. The front and back covers are adorned with gold-plated brass reliefs.

Artistic Concept: Illustrations

The illustrations in the Gospel Book are based on the desire to add a visual expression to the text, drawn from the text itself. These illustrations reference the cover design, which also incorporates the texts—specifically, excerpts from the text—as a central design element. The guiding principle here is that the text speaks to the viewer through its dynamism and its inherent movement. The focus is on the gesture rather than on illustration in the classical sense.

The illustrations are the result of a complex, multi-step process. The foundation and starting point is a theological analysis of the biblical passages. This led to the distillation of the specific text’s message into a movement. This movement was then performed by a dancer in a guided improvisation and documented using long-exposure photography and video.

The movements, superimposed across different image layers, were isolated, graphically edited, and abstracted. The forms resulting from this process were filled with selected abstracted texts from ancient Greek, placed on an equally abstracted background layer, and colored in the corresponding liturgical color. The Gospel book not only invites one to “read aloud” it in the literal sense and to “read from” it, but also, through its form and design, encourages one to “pause” and to “reflect on” what is seen and heard.