OKLAHOMA CITY — Museum of the Bible will join the annual “Celebration of the Bible: An Evening of Artistic Expression” in Oklahoma City on Friday, Nov. 12, 2021, with a special selection of artifacts from its collections. This year’s event will be held at Frontline Church from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (CST).
“Celebration of the Bible,” which was established in 2014 when Oklahoma City was named the “National Bible City” for that year by the National Bible Association, offers two annual events: an evening of artistic expression in November and a public Bible reading at the Oklahoma State Capitol in the spring. The goal of “Celebration of the Bible: An Evening of Artistic Expression” is to bring people of all ages, languages and cultures together in worship through reading, storytelling, song, dance and other forms of artistic expression in celebration of God’s word to humanity through the Bible.
This year, “Celebration of the Bible: An Evening of Artistic Expression” hopes to draw people from a variety of Christian traditions and anticipates approximately 750 to 1,000 attendees. Les Thomas will emcee the evening, which will feature Jami Smith, Gaby Sampedro, Charlie Hall, a Kiowa Tia-Piah Society Princess, Montrae Tisdale-Johnson & The Friends Chorale and others. Mike Hoang, Larry Aspegren, DJ Sackey, Rockie Naser and Michael McAfee will read portions of the Bible aloud to attendees.
During “Celebration of the Bible: An Evening of Artistic Expression,” Museum of the Bible will be exhibiting the following artifacts:
Original woodblock designed by Antonio Tempesta — “The Visitation”: This woodblock is one of a set of 73 woodblocks designed by renowned artist Antonio Tempesta and cut by engraver Leonardo Parasole for the first printed Gospel Book in Arabic, around 1590-1591. These woodblocks demonstrate Tempesta’s innovations in converting his personal drawing style into printable form. The prints made from the woodblocks accompany the Latin and Arabic text.
Illuminated “Fortesque” Book of Hours: From the 14th century onward, wealthy patrons commissioned Books of Hours for their personal use in prayer. These books contained Psalms and prayers arranged thematically to be read at specific times of the day throughout the week and for special occasions such as saints’ feast days or funerals. The Fortesque Hours dates to the last quarter of the 15th century, and was made in Belgium for an English client. It has many illustrated miniatures throughout.
Bible with Fore-Edge Painting of the Crucifixion: Printed by Samuel Collingswood in 1826, this Bible contains a fore-edge painting depicting the crucifixion of Jesus as described in the Gospels. There is evidence of fore-edge decoration as early as the tenth century, with impressed or painted patterns and gilded edges. In the sixteenth century, artists began to paint entire scenes on one or all of the edges of the book block. Some fore-edge paintings, like this one, depict scenes that complement the content of the book, while others depict local landscapes or important figures.
The Whole Booke of Psalms: The book of Psalms is one of the few books of the Bible to be printed as a stand-alone book. In fact, it was the first book to be printed in the British colonies of North America. It was titled, “The Whole Booke of Psalms,” but became more popularly known as the “Bay Psalm Book.” In 1639, the ministers and magistrates in the American colonies chose three ministers to translate the Psalms into metered English from the Hebrew texts: John Eliot, Richard Mather, and Thomas Welde. About 1,700 copies were printed in 1640 in Massachusetts. This book of Psalms (1639) is bound in a light blue cover embroidered with flowers and leaves.
The event is free, but registration is encouraged. Register here.
