Caspar Luyken’s illustrated bible among the Serbs and Bulgarians in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

A copper engraving from Caspar Luyken’s Amsterdam (1694) and Nuremberg (1708) bibles emerged as a powerful visual symbol for the religious revival and national liberation movements of Serbs and Bulgarians in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The 'Finding of Moses' illustration influenced three distinct cultural artifacts: Teodor Kracun’s painting for the Orthodox cathedral in Sremski Karlovci (1780), J. G. Mansfeld’s frontispiece for Dositej Obradović’s Poem of the Deliverance of Serbia (1789), and Dimitar Zograf’s fresco in Rila Monastery’s exonarthex (1843). Analysis of these adaptations reveals how Luyken’s original engraving was repurposed to serve nationalist narratives under Habsburg and Ottoman rule, underscoring its significance as both an artistic and ideological catalyst during a pivotal era.

Stosic, L. (2011). Caspar Luyken’s illustrated bible among the Serbs and Bulgarians in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Balkanika, (42), 37–48. https://doi.org/10.2298/balc1142037s