Illustrations for Doctrinal Instruction
[Picture-book of Catholic doctrine].
[Netherlands (Nijmegen?), late 18th century]. (BRMS 149)
Produced for instruction in the basic doctrines of the Catholic faith, this unusual book consists of full-page painted images accompanied by brief explanations written in Dutch on the facing pages. The illustrations on the first four leaves expound upon the nature of the universe (Creation), God (the Trinity), and mankind (Original Sin). The next five leaves illustrate the tenets of the Apostles’ Creed with scenes of God’s creation of heaven and earth, the birth of Jesus to the Virgin Mary, his crucifixion, resurrection, ascent into heaven, and return as judge and savior of the faithful. The last four leaves illustrate the seven sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Communion, Confession, Last Rites, Holy Orders, Matrimony, with a concluding image of salvation.
Later owned by the Carmelite friars of Nijmegen in the Netherlands, this book was made for the religious instruction of lay people who may not have had the ability to read. The book is datable to the end of the eighteenth century by the dress of the figures depicted and by the watermarks of the paper, which was produced at the Morgenstar mill that Pieter de Vries established in 1794 at Zaandam in the Netherlands.
