Apocalisse xilografica estense

The xylographic Apocalypse preserved at the Biblioteca Estense in Modena is an extremely rare and important document, as scholars consider it to be one of the oldest xylographic books. It contains 48 leaves for a total of 92 scenes. The pages are printed on one side and made up in parallel. Thus, the book alternates two full and two empty pages. The text – essentially the biblical story, though it also draws on the Apocrypha and folk traditions – is contained in scrolls or left free next to the images. Reproduced in full for the very first time by Franco Maria Ricci Editore, the Modena Apocalypse is both a masterpiece of narrative liveliness and, due to the particularity of its origins (in the Netherlands area towards the mid-15th century, in an intensely religious climate already permeated with pre-reformist sentiments and stances), an invaluable historic document.