Historiated Title Page

Historiated Title Page PDF Version

Book Title: Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch : von den schönsten und besten Liedern verfasset : in welchem nicht allein des sel. Herrn D. Lutheri und andere mit Gottes Wort und unveränderter Augsburgischen Confession überein stimmende ... Lateinische Hymni und Psalmen : mit 4. 5. bis 6. Stimmen : deren Melodeyen Theils aus Johann Herman Scheins Cantional und anderen Autoribus zusammen getragen, theils aber selbsten componirt ... / von Gottfried Vopelio ... ; mit einer Vorrede von D. Georgii Moebii ...

Author: Vopelius, Gottfried, 1645-171

Image Title: Historiated Title Page

Scripture Reference:

Description: This title page is an illustrative rendering of the Final Judgment as prescribed in the Books of Revelation, Isaiah, and Ezekiel. On the left page, God sits in heaven on a throne of clouds with his feet resting on a sphere representative of the “new earth,” which serves as his “footstool” (Isaiah 66). The image inside the sphere features the new earth and the river of the water of life which flows around a cave with a casket inside. God holds an open book on his lap, presumably the “book of life” used to judge the dead in Revelation 20:12. Above God is a nimbus and rays shining into the clouds interspersed with cherubs. In the top center of the clouds SANCTUS (Holy Spirit) is written three times to form the triangular shield of the trinity which emits rays from each side. Flanking God are the twenty four elders on twenty four thrones, each bearing a palm branch, a conflation of the elders with the great multitude of martyrs in white robes directly below (Revelation 7:9-17). At the bottom of the frame, Isaiah 66:1 is written in old German: SO SPRICHT DER HERR: DER HIMMEL IST MEIN STUHL UND DIE ERDE MEINE FUSSBANK; WAS IST'S DENN FÜR EIN HAUS, DASS IHR MIR BAUEN WOLLT, ODER WELCHES IST DIE STÄTTE, DA ICH RUHEN SOLL? The text translates “This is what the LORD says: Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be?” The right leaf depicts the “earthly city,” Jerusalem, also called the “camp of the saints,” or the “camp of God’s people” (Revelation 20:9). At the close of the millennial period during the eschaton, military tents decorated with shields surround a temple-like structure. Christian soldiers bearing spears prepare for the final battle against Gog and Magog in Revelation 20:9, and other priestly figures carve and chisel cuts of stone in and around the temple, engraving honorific phrases like DOMINE REX (Lord the King) and ADORA MUSTE (we adore you) on the walls. The temple structure is surmounted with three crosses and a haloed dove, and the words HERR GOTT DICH LOBEN WIR (Lord God praise You) from Luther's German TE DEUM AMBROSIAN (A Song of the Church) are written across the entrance. Inside the building a lively banquet under a large chandelier is underway, reminiscent of the “heavenly feast.” Behind the military camp covered in billows of smoke is a barred cave imprisoning demons, suggestive of the pit of the abyss in Revelation 9:1 to which the fifth angel is given a key. Below the image is the title of the work, LEIPZIGER GESANGBUCH, which translates to “Leipzig Hymnbook.” The signature of the artist appears on the bottom right corners of each page.

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