Created by the chancellor of the University of Paris: Old Testament family trees by Peter of Poitiers in the rare form of a scroll
Genealogy of Christ
1320–1340

Genealogy of Christ
— 1320–1340
This Old Testament teaching tool was created by the scholar Peter of Poitiers in the rare form of a scroll
The scroll arranges the most important biblical people in the form of interconnected family trees
Peter of Poitiers (ca. 1130–1215) studied at the University of Paris and was later named chancellor of this very university
Genealogy of Christ
- Genealogía de Cristo
- Genealogie Christi
- Abstammung Jesu
- Genealogia di Cristo
- Généalogie du Christ
- Genealogia de Cristo
Short Description
The Genealogy of Christ is a scroll that was made as a teaching tool by the scholar Peter of Poitiers (ca. 1130–1215). It shows the most important people and events of the Old Testament, clearly and comprehensives summarized in family trees. Various colors make the structure easy to understand and remember. The scroll was used a learning aid for teaching in classrooms and the University of Paris.
Genealogy of Christ
A manuscript on a vellum scroll that was intended to serve as a learning aid in biblical instruction arose during the Gothic Middle Ages. Peter of Poitiers, the chancellor of the University of Paris, composed this manuscript, which was to be used as a study aid on the walls of classrooms. The scroll arranges the most important biblical people in the form of family trees in connection with one another and in doing so makes the story of the Old Testament more easily understood. The work is furnished with a variety of various color accents in order to differentiate the contents. Around 50 handwritten copies of the genealogy from the time period of the 13th to the 15th centuries still exist today.
A Free Educational Aid
The Genealogy of Christ was used as a didactic aid on classroom walls. Poor schoolchildren and clerics who were not in the financial position to buy books for themselves had a free synopsis of the most important biblical people and events. The story of the Old Testament could be analyzed at a glance and was easily imprinted through the compact depictions.
Theological Tradition
Peter of Poitiers was an educated theologian from France. He lived in Paris ca. 1130 to 1205. He studied at the University of Paris and was later named chancellor of this very university. He published several orthodox teachings and lectures in numerous handwritten codices. The Genealogy of Christ is his most attractive work. The scroll is divided into the six different ages of humanity, according to the tradition of which, the Sixth Age was begun with the birth of Christ and was ended with his crucifixion. The most important people were summarized bearing the complexity of the stories in mind. Thus the content of the Bible was clearly articulated.
Various Color Accents
The people and individual aspects of the biblical passages of the genealogy were furnished with a variety of different colors. The gender and status of people in the society could be easily distinguished from one another. Women’s names, for example, were surrounded by fresh green frames. Kings were consigned with a luminous red color and prophets were set in a deep blue color base. The various temporal epochs were also made easily discernable through the use of different colors. These noteworthy learning aids of the Middle Ages were so beloved, that they were frequently copied from the 13th to the 15th centuries. Today the original edition of the scroll is found in the Biblioteca Casantense in Rome.
Codicology
- Alternative Titles
- Genealogía de Cristo
Genealogie Christi
Abstammung Jesu
Genealogia di Cristo
Généalogie du Christ
Genealogia de Cristo - Size / Format
- 1 roll / 384.0 x 19.3 cm
- Date
- 1320–1340
- Epochs
- Style
- Genre
- Language
- Artist / School
- Author: Peter of Poitiers
Venetian school

Genealogy of Christ
Crucifixion
Unlike the rest of this rare scroll, which is painted using a wide-variety of colors, this most-iconic of Christian scenes is presented here in semi-grisaille – executed entirely by using shading and only embellished by the use of gold leaf for the halos. This is also a minimalist depiction of the Crucifixion scene, excluding all other figures save for the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist.
This miniature is so stripped down that Golgotha is represented by a skull and only the smallest bump of a hill. However, the beholder is thus allowed to focus on the strokes from the skillful hand of the artist: a perfectly balanced composition, a detailed and naturalistic fall of folds, delicate shading, and subtle yet expressive countenances.
1 available facsimile edition(s) of „Genealogy of Christ“
Genealogía de Cristo
- Publisher
- M. Moleiro Editor – Barcelona, 1999
- Limited Edition
- 987 copies
- Binding
- Deep red leather embossed in gold
- Commentary
-
1 volume (164 pages) by Miguel C. Vivancos, Angela Adriana Cavarra, Carlos Miranda and Ana Domínguez Rodríguez
Language: Spanish - More Information
- Reproduction of the entire original document as detailed as possible (scope, format, colors). The binding may not correspond to the original or current document binding.
Matching Works
Cathechism of Fray Pedro de Gante
Completely without text: Christian teachings in the visual language of the indigenous people of Mexico
Experience MoreKoran of Muley Zaidan
Created at the behest of the Sultan: an exceptional Moroccan manuscript from Spain's El Escorial
Experience MoreMatching Background Articles
Gothic
Gothic illumination is some of the most spectacular and iconic imagery of medieval art and first emerged in Northern...Experience more14th Century
How could a century of endemic warfare, famine, and the Black Death produce great minds like Petrarch, Boccaccio, and...Experience more
- Treatises / Secular Books
- Apocalypses / Beatus
- Astronomy / Astrology
- Bestiaries
- Bibles / Gospels
- Chronicles / History / Law
- Geography / Maps
- Saints' Lives
- Islam / Oriental
- Judaism / Hebrew
- Single Leaf Collections
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Literature / Poetry
- Liturgical Manuscripts
- Medicine / Botany / Alchemy
- Music
- Mythology / Prophecies
- Psalters
- Other Religious Books
- Games / Hunting
- Private Devotion Books
- Other Genres
- Aboca Museum
- Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA)
- Aldo Ausilio Editore - Bottega d’Erasmo
- Alecto Historical Editions
- Ars Magna
- ArtCodex
- AyN Ediciones
- Bärenreiter-Verlag
- Belser Verlag
- Belser Verlag / WK Wertkontor
- Bernardinum Wydawnictwo
- BiblioGemma
- Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Vaticanstadt, Vaticanstadt)
- Bibliotheca Palatina Faksimile Verlag
- Bibliotheca Rara
- CAPSA, Ars Scriptoria
- Circulo Cientifico
- Club Bibliófilo Versol
- CM Editores
- Collezione Apocrifa Da Vinci
- Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses
- Coron Verlag
- De Agostini/UTET
- DIAMM
- E. Schreiber Graphische Kunstanstalten
- Ediciones Boreal
- Ediciones Grial
- Edilan
- Editalia
- Edition Leipzig
- Edition Libri Illustri
- Editiones Reales Sitios S. L.
- Editions Medicina Rara
- Editorial Mintzoa
- Egeria, S.L.
- Extraordinary Editions
- Facsimile Editions Ltd.
- Facsimilia Art & Edition Ebert KG
- Faksimile Verlag
- Franco Cosimo Panini Editore
- Fundación Hullera Vasco-Leonesa
- Giunti Editore
- Graffiti
- Grafica European Center of Fine Arts
- Helikon
- Herder Verlag
- Hes & De Graaf Publishers
- Hugo Schmidt Verlag
- Idion Verlag
- Il Bulino, edizioni d'arte
- Imago
- Insel Verlag
- Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana - Treccani
- Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato
- Kaydeda Ediciones
- La Meta Editore
- Leo S. Olschki
- Libreria Musicale Italiana
- Lumen Artis
- M. Moleiro Editor
- Manuscriptum
- Millennium Liber
- Nova Charta
- Orbis Mediaevalis
- Orbis Pictus
- Österreichische Staatsdruckerei
- Patrimonio Ediciones
- PIAF
- Popyläen Verlag
- Prestel Verlag
- Priuli & Verlucca, editori
- Pro Sport Verlag
- Pytheas Books
- Quaternio Verlag Luzern
- Reales Sitios
- Reichert Verlag
- Roberto Vattori Editore
- Salerno Editrice
- Schöck ArtPrint Kft.
- Scrinium
- Scripta Maneant
- Scriptorium
- Siloé, arte y bibliofilia
- Styria Verlag
- Tempus Libri
- Testimonio Compañía Editorial
- The Clear Vue Publishing Partnership Limited
- The Facsimile Codex
- The Folio Society
- Tip.Le.Co
- TouchArt
- Trident Editore
- Vallecchi
- Van Wijnen
- Vicent Garcia Editores
- Wiener Mechitharisten-Congregation (Wien, Österreich)
- Yushodo