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From the Scriptures to the Cross
The resurrection of Jesus from the grave at Easter is seen by Christians as part of a larger divine plan that is already laid out in the Old Testament. There are numerous references to overcoming death and the hope of an afterlife. This is why the Bible Museum's Easter exhibition ‘From the Scriptures to the Cross: Prophecy and its Interpretation at Easter’ sheds light on the continuities between the Old and New Testaments. The Easter exhibition can be seen from 20 March to 7 June, Tuesdays to Sundays from 10 am to 6 pm. Admission is free of charge.
To facilitate access to the biblical writings, the Bible Museum endeavours to provide background information on their origins and history. Visitors can expect to see manuscripts on parchment and papyrus in Hebrew, Greek and Latin, Arabic and Ethiopian manuscripts as well as an overview of the development of the New Testament based on selected individual items such as a Luther Bible and Catholic counter-bibles. A gilded icon of the cross from the 15th century, a Pieta from the 16th century and a silver relic of the cross, which was given its present form in the 18th century, allow visitors to directly experience the pain that preceded the Easter event.
Text passages and illustrations from historical and modern Bibles show how various biblical figures and events in the Old Testament point to the central events of the Christian faith. On display for the first time are two new acquisitions that the Bible Museum has only recently received: a so-called ‘antiphonary’, a collection of liturgical chants. The large sheets offered enough space for the complex notations and ornate initials. On display in the exhibition is an initial with a depiction of the ‘Seven Sorrows of Mary’, which in the Catholic Church serve as a reminder of the deep love and pain that Mary experienced as the mother of Jesus.
Also of Catholic origin is a chrismatorium, a vessel in which the holy oils and accessories for communion, such as hosts, could be kept. The special specimen preserved by the Bible Museum is concealed in a book cover and lavishly gilded and silver-plated. It is complemented by a two-volume missal containing, among other things, the liturgy of the Holy Mass.