Biblia Pauperum

American  

[bib-lee-ah pou-pe-room, bib-lee-uh paw-per-uhm] / ˈbɪb li ɑ ˈpaʊ pɛˌrʊm, ˈbɪb li ə ˈpɔ pər əm /

noun

1. any of the picture books illustrating Biblical events and usually containing a short text, used chiefly in the Middle Ages for purposes of religious instruction.

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Etymology

Origin of Biblia Pauperum

< New Latin: literally, Bible of poor men

Example Sentences

An illustration of the apocalypse in a Biblia Pauperum from around the time of the European famine of 1315–1317.

From Slate • Apr. 16, 2014

The Franciscan monk, Bonaventura, the famous author of the Biblia Pauperum, added a seventh, a complete rest in God—"like the Sabbath after the six days of labour."

From The Evolution of Love by Schleussner, Ellie

They are both exceedingly close copies of engravings in the Biblia Pauperum, or Poor Man’s Bible, otherwise called “Speculum Humanæ Salvationis,” or the Mirror of Human Salvation.

From The Grotesque in Church Art by Wildridge, T. Tindall

For those who could not read there were the Biblia Pauperum, picture-books with a minimum of text, and there were sermons by popular preachers.

From The Age of the Reformation by Smith, Preserved

Like almost all other art, that of the stage has long seemed to me a sort of Biblia Pauperum, or a Bible in pictures for those who cannot read what is written or printed.

From Plays by August Strindberg, Second series by Strindberg, August