Section 7. Books of the Reformation

62. Martin Luther. The Old Testament: The Pentateuch

Wittenberg, Melchior Lotter, 1523. National Library of Belarus, Minsk

The presented Pentateuch was printed in 1523 in Wittenberg, in Melchior Lotter’s printing house. It used German Gothic type, includes 6 engraved hand-painted historiated initials, and a full-length hand-painted woodcut. It is possible that the initials and a woodcut for this edition were made by a celebrated German painter and graphics master of the Renaissance Lucas Cranach the Elder, known also for his portraits and biblical paintings who lived and worked in Wittenberg at the time.