Copley Illustrated Bible

[Italian Bible]. La Sacra Bibbia secondo la Volgata, tradotta in lingua italiana.
Volume 2 of five.
Naples: Gaetano Nobile Libraio-Tipografo, 1844–1847. (AEW1108)

The exhibited lithographic illustration of Samuel and Eli (1 Samuel 3) in this Naples edition of the Italian Bible was not designed by an Italian master, but rather by the American painter John Singleton Copley (1738–1815). The lithograph, which transferred ink from a design drawn onto a stone slab, is based on a painting that Copley completed in 1780, with his son posing as the young Eli. The composition rose to international popularity after an engraving based on the same painting had appeared in a sumptuous English Bible published in London by John Macklin in 1791–1800.