Joannes Richter
Secret Colour Coding in the Bible
For my androgynous partner Fries
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Joannes Richter
Secret Colour Coding in the Bible - and in other documents -
Published by Lulu -2009-
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© 2009 by Joannes Richter Published by Lulu www.lulu.com All Rights Reserved ISBN: xxx-x-xxxx-xxxx-x
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Contents 1 Introduction............................................................................9 The National Library...........................................................9 2 Ancient Egyptian Arts..........................................................13 3 Medieval paintings...............................................................17 4 Birds as religious Symbols...................................................21 5 Colouring codes in the Pentateuch.......................................25 Androgynous Adam in the 2nd century AD......................25 Codings for androgynous symbolism................................26 6 Early Hebrew Bibles............................................................35 The Zohar..........................................................................36 7 colour Codings in the medieval Bibles................................37 Categorizing Bibles...........................................................37 Red & blue Initials............................................................40 Heading lines.....................................................................41 Numbering lines................................................................43 Initial lines.........................................................................44 Genealogical trees.............................................................49 Background colours..........................................................51 8 The divine garments.............................................................53 Garments for the Creator God...........................................53 Creation of Adam and resolving Eve................................56 9 Identification of colouring symbols.....................................65 10 Modern androgynous symbolism.......................................67 The Russian tri-colour Banner..........................................69 Other modern Banners......................................................69 11 Conclusion.........................................................................71
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List of Figures and Photographs Fig 1: Creator God as displayed in the Wenzel Bible..............10 Fig 2: Wenzel of Bohemia in blue robe and red stockings.......11 Fig 3: Djed column at an Egyptian sarcophagus.....................13 Fig 4: Blue and red decorations in the KHM...........................14 Fig 5: Blue & Red at the KHM-decorations............................15 Fig 6: Jesus Christ in a blue coat and red robe........................17 Fig 7: Virgin Mary in blue & rose-red garments.....................18 Fig 8: Saint in a blue coat and a red robe.................................19 Fig 9: Kingfisher on a German stamp......................................21 Fig 10: Kingfisher, Alcedo_atthis_2_(Lukasz_Lukasik).........22 Fig 11: Eisvogel (Wiener Dioskurid).......................................22 Fig 12: Kingfisher at the Genesis-page (Wenzel-bible)...........23 Fig 13: Bird at the Genesis-page (Wenzel-bible).....................24 Fig 14: Initials in the Rado-Bible.............................................39 Fig 15: Initials to St. Paul's letter to Philemon........................40 Fig 16: Genesis headline in Neapolitan Bible..........................41 Fig 17: Genesis headline in Neapolitan Bible..........................41 Fig 18: Headerline in the Bolognese Bible (1240)..................42 Fig 19: Book “Jonas” in Ulrich Schreier Bible (1472)............42 Fig 20: Headerline Genesis in the Kremser Bible...................42 Fig 21: Headerline Lucas.........................................................42 Fig 22: Headerline Paris-Bible ................................................43 Fig 23: Numbering lines in the Neapolitan Bible (1360)........43 Fig 24: Genesis-line in the Korczek-Bible (1400)...................44 Fig 25: Initial line for the Kremser Bible (1333).....................44 Fig 26: Initial line for the Kremser Genesis.............................45 Fig 27: Initial Ancient History (14th Century)........................45 Fig 28: Initials for the Kremser Bible (1333)..........................46 6
Fig 29: Initials for the Kremser Bible (1333)..........................47 Fig 30: Utrechter Bible (1460).................................................48 Fig 31: Genealogical trees.......................................................49 Fig 32: Trinity God in purple, blue, red and white..................50 Fig 33: Background, Goslar Evangelium, ca. 1240 AD..........51 Fig 34: Red & blue initials in Biblia pauperum (14th cent.). . .52 Fig 35: Creator God with red and blue colour combinations...53 Fig 36: Creator God in red and blue garments.........................54 Fig 37: Jesus Christ being kissed by Judas(1336)...................55 Fig 38: Trinity God resolving Eve from Adam........................56 Fig 39: Trinity God with a winged Holy Spirit........................57 Fig 40: Creation phase of resolving Eve from Adam..............58 Fig 41: Creator God in red and blue garments (1390).............59 Fig 42: Creation Phase in the Wenzel Bible (1390).................60 Fig 43: Creation of Eve in Eberler Bible (1464)......................61 Fig 44: Creation legend in the Korczek Bible (1400)..............62 Fig 45: Androgynous face by Marc Chagall............................67 Fig 46: Androgynous face (painting Joannes Richter, 2003)...68 Fig 47: 15-starred banner over Fort McHenry (1814).............70
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Tabellen Table 1: Categorisation of medieval Bibles.............................63
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1 Introduction In search for additional explanations for the biblical colour codings as described in the book Dyaeus I decided to visit Vienna at the beginning of December 2009. Vienna and Austria are very special location to search for Biblical codings as the museums provide ample information to check the thesis of religious colour codings in ancient eras. A three day visit of Vienna enabled us to visit the National Library and the famous art museums Albertina, Leopold Museum and KHM1, which are concentrating one of the largest collections of medieval and modern art in a single site, including an overview of Egyptian and Greek-Roman sculptures.
The National Library By a lucky chance one of the museums the National Library exhibited an exposition2 named “Wenzel of Bohemia – Saint and Ruler” in which one of the Bibles is being exposed as a main topic. To be displayed the Bible had been opened at the initial Genesis page with its beautiful decorations, which according to the wealth of colourings clearly must be seen as the most important part of the Bible. Obviously the coloured parts lead us to the very biblical symbols which had to be considered the most dominant religious symbols. The colours used in these decorations (gold, purple, red and blue) are leading me to the most important biblical topics: the Genesis creation story in the Bible. 1: 2:
KHM = Kunst Historisches Museum (“Art Historical Museum”) Exposition from 27.11.2009 – 31.1.2010
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Nothing has been decorated as wealthy as the Genesis phase.
Fig 1: Creator God as displayed in the Wenzel Bible In the Wenzel Bible3 the Creator God is wearing a red robe over a blue inner robe. The blue robe is only to be seen at special phases, but from the final phase at the seventh creation day we know it is there. This is a contrast to the garments of the Virgin Maria, who is wearing a blue overcoat and a red inner robe. In fact Wenzel himself has been displayed at the museums leaflet in a blue robe, wearing a red hat decorated with golden sleeves and red stockings.
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exposed at the exhibition as a facsimile copy.
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Fig 2: Wenzel of Bohemia in blue robe and red stockings
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A further visit at the “KHM” confirms my earlier statistics referring to the Mary's garments, which in 60-70% of the medieval paintings traditionally consist of a blue overcoat and a red inner robe. In fact the KHM allowed me to discover these colouring codes also apply to the garments of the deities (God and Jesus Christ) and the saints, which will be documented with a few photographs. The KHM also allowed me to study some topics in Egyptian and Greek-Roman arts, which do reveal some androgynous colourings (red and blue) in the Egyptian Djed-columns, clearly indicating a link to Egyptian religions. The KHM however does not expose as many coloured items as the British Museum (e.g. the original red & blue colourings for the fries in the Acropolis temple). The Albertina enabled me to identify a few modern paintings which also confirm the theory of symbolic colours in religious artwork, which will be documented in the following chapters.
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2 Ancient Egyptian Arts A sarcophagus at the KHM museum clearly demonstrates the alternating symbolic colours red and blue - separated by a “golden”-yellow band - , which are to be identified in the Bible as well.
Fig 3: Djed column at an Egyptian sarcophagus
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I also identified an overall impression in the winged decorations and the sky covered with stars at a blue background of the sky, but this is just an impression to support the search for alerted researchers.
Fig 4: Blue and red decorations in the KHM
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Fig 5: Blue & Red at the KHM-decorations
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3 Medieval paintings To research the colouring codes of the medieval paintings I just identified a few saints and the robes for the deities as examples. By now I already knew the paintings were following the biblical colouring codes and not vice versa. The following paintings clearly demonstrate the colouring code in the garments of saints and deities, which could not be labelled in the short period of time available for the museum's visit:
Fig 6: Jesus Christ in a blue coat and red robe
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Fig 7: Virgin Mary in blue & rose-red garments
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Fig 8: Saint in a blue coat and a red robe These red & blue garments may eventually also reveal a slight trace of white “underwear”, which cannot be explained as religious symbolism...
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4 Birds as religious Symbols Some birds reveal a blue and red coloured combination of feathers, which may have been considered as a religious symbol. A special example may be the kingfisher, as displayed on a German stamp from 1963:
Fig 9: Kingfisher on a German stamp
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In fact the colours may vary from orange to green-blue:
Fig 10: Kingfisher, Alcedo_atthis_2_(Lukasz_Lukasik) In this colour combination blue/orange the kingfisher has been documented in ancient codices such as Wiener Dioskurides fol. 479 verso (dated before 512 AD)
Fig 11: Eisvogel (Wiener Dioskurid)
The Genesis page of the Wenzelbible has been decorated with two dominant kingfishers:
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Fig 12: Kingfisher at the Genesis-page (Wenzel-bible)
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A few other birds with red & blue feathers may also be identified at the same Genesis-page of the Wenzel-Bible:
Fig 13: Bird at the Genesis-page (Wenzel-bible)
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5 Colouring codes in the Pentateuch Androgynous Adam in the 2nd century AD Jeremiah ben Eleazar4, a Palestinian scholar of the 2nd century (living a few centuries after Plato), inferred from Ps. cxxxix. 5 that Adam was created with two faces, one of a man and one of a woman, and that God afterward cleft them asunder ('Er. 18a). In Gen. R. viii. 1 this opinion is ascribed to Samuel b. Naḥman, while Jeremiah's opinion is stated to have been that Adam was created a hermaphrodite5. Jeremiah, son of Eleazar, says: "God created Adam androgynous, but Samuel, son of Naḥman, says, He created him 'double-faced,' then cutting him in twain and forming two backs, one to the one and the other to the second" 6. The same statement is given in Moses ha-Darshan's Bereshit Rabbati7. The difference in the interpretation is that, according to Jeremiah's opinion, Adam had both sexes, and was thus a real hermaphrodite in the old mythical sense, identical with that conception of Hermes in which he is understood to be the "logos alethinos," the son of Maya, the bisexual primeval man of the East.
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Info from the website: Jewish Encyclopedia See the entry Androgynos at the Jewish Encyclopedia 6: see Bacher, "Ag. Pal. Amor." i. 547, iii. 585 7: "Pugio Fidei" p. 446, Paris, 1651 5:
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The Greek Hermaphroditus —represented by statues and on old gems, in which representations, however, bisexuality is scarcely indicated—has remained strange to the East and totally unknown to the Jews. In all the parallel passages in the Talmud, the opinion of Samuel b. Naḥman alone prevails, for we find regularly Adam (bifrons, double-fronted), as, for example: 'Er. 18a, Ber. 61a, etc. 8. The opinion expressed by Jeremiah is, however, very old and wide-spread, for we find the fathers of the Christian Church at pains to refute this "Jewish fable"; Augustine writes against it in his commentary on Genesis, ad loc. ch. 22. Strabos, agreeing with Augustine, declares this opinion to be one of the "damnatæ Judæorum fabulæ." Others revive the question, and Sixtus Senensis in his "Bibliotheca Sacra" devotes to it a special chapter9. An alchemic interpretation has been given to "Adam androgynus," by Guil. Menens 10. Codings for androgynous symbolism Existing secret atbash- and abbam-coding-systems in the Bible suggest the use of other coding systems. One of these codingsystems may be the colouring scheme in Exodus and Chronicles. As these colours have been introduced by Moses they may have been inspired by Egyptian religion.
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Jastrow, "Dict." s.v., p. 304, 1 ed. Colon. 1586, fol. 344, 345 10: "Aurei Velleris libri tres, Theatrum chemicum," vol. v., p. 275, Argent., 1660 9:
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As described in the web-manuscript: The Sky-God Dyæus the coding schema defines the following basic symbols: • red / scarlet / crimson = the female (= yin) symbol • blue = the male (= yang) symbol, individually to be used for the priests • purple = the androgynous / joined / matrimonial symbol • Byssus, fine linen, from Hebrew būṣ 'fine linen', referring to fine linen and twined material • twine = intensely joining (marriage, the matrimonial couple) • rainbow = divine symbol in Genesis with it's bordering colours red and blue The now following Biblical coding system in twining and colouring will now be compared to the colours for the Medieval codices, which have been applied in decorating these books. These decorations cannot be seen as mere artistic beauty, but clearly must be identified as religious symbols. The real meaning of these colours cannot be denied from correlations to the divine commands in the Pentateuch, which will be documented in detail in the following chapter:
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Book Exodus 25: 3This is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, brass, 4blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, 5rams’ skins dyed red, sea cow hides, acacia wood, 6oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense, 7onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate. 26: “Moreover you shall make the tent with ten curtains; of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, with cherubim. The work of the skillful workman you shall make them. 4You
shall make loops of blue on the edge of the one curtain from the edge in the coupling; and likewise shall you make in the edge of the curtain that is outmost in the second coupling. 14You
shall make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of sea cow hides above. 31“You
shall make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cherubim. The work of the skillful workman shall it be made. 36“You
shall make a screen for the door of the Tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the embroiderer. 37You shall make for the screen five pillars of acacia, and overlay them with gold: their hooks shall be of gold: and you shall cast five sockets of brass for them.
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27: 9“You shall make the court of the tent: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen one hundred cubits long for one side: 10and the pillars of it shall be twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. 16For
the gate of the court shall be a screen of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the embroiderer; their pillars four, and their sockets four. 18The
length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty every where, and the height five cubits, of fine twined linen, and their sockets of brass. 28: 5They shall take the gold, and the blue, and the purple, and the scarlet, and the fine linen. 6“They shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the skilful workman. 7It shall have two shoulder-pieces joined to the two ends of it, that it may be joined together. 8The skilfully woven band, which is on it, that is on him, shall be like its work and of the same piece; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. 15“You
shall make a breastplate of judgment, the work of the skilful workman; like the work of the ephod you shall make it; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, shall you make it. 28They
shall bind the breastplate by the rings of it to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate may not swing out from the ephod. 29
35: 5 Take from among you an offering to Yahweh. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, Yahweh’s offering: gold, silver, brass, 6blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, 7rams’ skins dyed red, sea cow hides, acacia wood, 8oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense, 9onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate. 23Everyone, with whom was found blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, rams’ skins dyed red, and sea cow hides, brought them. 25All
the women who were wise-hearted spun with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, the blue, the purple, the scarlet, and the fine linen. 35He
has filled them with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of workmanship, of the engraver, of the skillful workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of those who do any workmanship, and of those who make skillful works. 36:8All the wise-hearted men among those who did the work made the tent with ten curtains; of fine twined linen, blue, purple, and scarlet, with cherubim, the work of the skillful workman, they made them. 11He
made loops of blue on the edge of the one curtain from the edge in the coupling. 35He
made the veil of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubim. He made it the work of a skillful workman. 30
37He
made a screen for the door of the tent, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer; 38 18The screen for the gate of the court was the work of the embroiderer, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. 23With
him was Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a skillful workman, and an embroiderer in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen. 39 Of the blue, purple, and scarlet, they made finely worked garments, for ministering in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron; as Yahweh commanded Moses. 2He made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. 3They beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, in the purple, in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, the work of the skillful workman. 4They made shoulder-pieces for it, joined together. At the two ends it was joined together. 5The skillfully woven band that was on it, with which to fasten it on, was of the same piece, like its work; of gold, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen; as Yahweh commanded Moses. 8He
made the breastplate, the work of a skillful workman, like the work of the ephod; of gold, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. 31
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bound the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it might be on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate might not come loose from the ephod, as Yahweh commanded Moses. 22He
made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue.
24They
made on the skirts of the robe pomegranates of blue, purple, scarlet, and twined linen. 27They
made the coats of fine linen of woven work for Aaron, and for his sons, 28and the turban of fine linen, and the linen headbands of fine linen, and the linen breeches of fine twined linen, 29and the sash of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, the work of the embroiderer, as Yahweh commanded Moses. 30They
made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote on it a writing, like the engravings of a signet: “HOLY TO YAHWEH.” 31They tied to it a lace of blue, to fasten it on the turban above, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
The Second Book of Chronicles For the people of Israel the temple had been created by Yahweh, who revealed his plans to his chosen11. Thus Yahweh said to Moses: "And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them" 12
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Mircea Eliade, In the Sacred and the Profane-The Nature of Religion. Exodus 15,8-9.
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And as David is handing out the plans for the temple-buildings, the tabernacle and all the utensils to his son Solomon he assures him that: "all this ... the Lord made me understand in writing by his hand upon me" 13. And Solomon confirms to YHWH: "Thou hast commanded me to build a temple upon Thy holy mount, and an altar in the city wherein Thou dwellest, a resemblance of the holy tabernacle which Thou hast prepared from the beginning" 14. Although the Covenant Tent and the Temple reveal a completely different character it may be noted that God's prescription for the colouring code remains identical to both David and Solomon. The Second Book of Chronicles reports: 27Now therefore send me a man skilful to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and who knows how to engrave all manner of engravings, to be with the skilful men who are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father did provide.
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II Chronicles, 28, 19
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Wisdom of Solomon, 9, 8 33
313Now I have sent a skillful man, endowed with understanding, of Huram my father’s, 14the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan; and his father was a man of Tyre, skillful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson, also to engrave any manner of engraving, and to devise any device; that there may be a place appointed to him with your skillful men, and with the skillful men of my lord David your father.
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6 Early Hebrew Bibles At the National Library an early Hebrew Tora, Haftarot, Megilot from France, dated 1348 is being commented by the famous rabbi Solomon ben Isaac (“Rashi”, 1040-1105), who clearly formulated an androgynous Genesis with a symmetrical split up for the male and female halves in an androgynous first being Adam. Previously the following legend has been documented in the sources 15 which have already been published in the chapter Rashi's and Rashbam's Genesis in Dyaeus.
Rashi's Genesis “God as Judge, alone without the angels, created the human being, by hand, in a mold which was like the mold with which a seal is made or like the die from which a coin is produced, and which had been specially crafted for the human being. In a mold which was a hologram image of God, God created the human being. One being which was both male and female and which was subsequently divided into two beings, God created them” 16 . This clearly indicates the medieval monks were still discussing the idea of androgynous creations and may have modelled the symbolism in the decoration's colours for the copied Bibles. 15:
as found in the book “Ancient Genesis: The Mystery of Evolution and God” by Ami Blackwelder. 16:
Rabbi Rashi 1040-1105, northern Europe (chapter 27)
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In fact rabbi Rashi may have been the main carrier for androgynous symbolism in medieval ages. He may also have influenced the androgynous creation legend in the Kabbalistic book Zohar.
The Zohar The Zohar17 is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah18, written in medieval Aramaic. The Zohar is a group of books including scriptural interpretations as well as material on theosophic theology, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology. The Zohar first appeared in Spain in the 13th century, and was published by a Jewish writer named Moses de Leon.
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Hebrew: זהר, lit Splendor or Radiance the five books of Moses
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7 colour Codings in the medieval Bibles Categorizing Bibles The colour codings in the medieval Bibles may be discerned and categorized in several ways. In order to statistically analyse the great number of codices available the Austrian National Library I decided to study the book “Die prächtigsten Bibeln19”. The most expensive codices used a vellum made of sheepskin coloured in purple and written with sparkling golden and silver or white ink. The purple colour had been a divine symbol, which had also been reserved by Roman emperors, who of course had promoted themselves to deities. Normal codices had to be written in brown or black inks. Special topics used to be highlighted in gold, or in a replacement yellow colours made from arsenic sulfides. Most of the coloured manuscripts were using red and blue for decorations. These decorations however may very well be referring to special religious symbols, which may become clear in the followings chapters. The following categorisation may apply in the study of colouring aspects: • • • •
expensive codices (in purple, gold, silver and white) red and blue coloured codices non red and blue coloured codices (the Rado-Bible) non coloured codices (simpler manuscripts)
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Die prächtigsten Bibeln by Andreas Fingernagel – published 2008, ISBN: 978-3-8365-0297-6
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As already described in the specified previous books the overwhelming application of the colours red and blue seems to be referring to the previously described relevant colouring codes in the texts of the Pentateuch and/or androgynous symbolism as documented in the web-manuscript: The SkyGod Dyæus. An overview of other details referring to the symbolism in the colouring codes of red, blue and purple may be found in: The Fundamental colour Symbols Blue and Red.
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The Rado-Bible As far as I see there is one exception to standard colouring scheme. The Rado-Bible or Carolingial Bible created around 850 AD20 is using another scheme by applying green, red and yellow in their initial lettering symbols. Obviously the monks who created this early codex did not know or follow the colouring standards, which have been applied in later years.
Fig 14: Initials in the Rado-Bible
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Northern France
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Red & blue Initials Most of the biblical codices have been copied from earlier manuscripts and they seem to have followed strict rules in depicting the biblical symbolism.
Fig 15: Initials to St. Paul's letter to Philemon An early codex is named the Bolognese Bible with ornamental initials referring to St. Paul's letter to Philemon:
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In fact the colours red and blue prevail in this page at the initials, in the heading line at the topside of the pages and in the decorations at the side of the pages.
Heading lines Generally the heading lines are seen to alternate blue and red letters. Although most lines start with a red letter the system does not seem to select a special colour for the very beginning of the headlines as may be observed in an overview of headerlines,
Fig 16: Genesis headline in Neapolitan Bible
Fig 17: Genesis headline in Neapolitan Bible
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Fig 18: Headerline in the Bolognese Bible (1240)
Fig 19: Book “Jonas” in Ulrich Schreier Bible (1472)
Fig 20: Headerline Genesis in the Kremser Bible
Fig 21: Headerline Lucas
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Fig 22: Headerline Paris-Bible
Numbering lines The numbering system will also follow the same colouring system as the header lines, e.g. the following number (for line #49) of Genesis in the Neapolitan Bible:
Fig 23: Numbering lines in the Neapolitan Bible (1360) Line 17 starts with a blue letter and line 18 with a red letter. In contrast both Line #49 and #50 start with a red letter.
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Fig 24: Genesis-line in the Korczek-Bible (1400)
Initial lines Obviously the initial lines are following the same colouring code in alternating red and blue letters:
Fig 25: Initial line for the Kremser Bible (1333)
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Fig 26: Initial line for the Kremser Genesis These lines start with an initial letter which combines several colours, including red and blue letters. Some codices are applying alternating red and blue letters for long texts covering a number of lines:
Fig 27: Initial Ancient History (14th Century) 45
As a remarkable fact God's image21 also combines a red and blue garment.
Fig 28: Initials for the Kremser Bible (1333)
21:
while giving the blessings
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Fig 29: Initials for the Kremser Bible (1333) Initial for the letter L = Liber Generationis including a number of blue and red and yellow (golden) decorations.
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The Utrechter “historical” Bible22 from Evert van Soudenbalch (in Dutch language) does contain a great number of initials combining blue and red colouring codes in singular letters:
Fig 30: Utrechter Bible (1460)
22:
Codex 2772, fol. 198v (III Maccabeorum = Josephus Flavius, Antiquitates XIII-XVI)
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Genealogical trees
Fig 31: Genealogical trees Although these figures cannot be understood they certainly apply a colouring code including red and blue.
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Fig 32: Trinity God in purple, blue, red and white 50
Background colours Alternating red and blue backgrounds in the Bible (Goslarer Evangeliar, ca. 1240 AD) may also be referring to androgynous symbolism in the Bible:
Fig 33: Background, Goslar Evangelium, ca. 1240 AD Even in the poor people's Bible23 the alternating red & blue initials are referring to the androgynous symbolism in religion:
23:
Biblia pauperum in the Codex Palatinus Latinus 871 (14th century) Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana
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8 The divine garments Garments for the Creator God The Creator God will often wear red and blue colour combinations in either the garments or the head's decorations24. Additionally yellow is used to indicate gold as a precious symbol.
24:
Codex 1179, fol. 1v (Genesis)
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Please note the upper line in alternating blue and red letters illustrating the Creator God in “Bibles moralisées” (dated 1275)
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Garments for Jesus Christ Also the garments for Jesus Christ will often apply red and blue or purple combinations as seen in the following example from “Speculum Humanae Salvationis” (dated 1336):
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Creation of Adam and resolving Eve Most of the creation phases depict a full-grown and adult Eve, which is being resolved from the backside (in fact the correct translation for the back-side) of the androgynous Adam.
The Creator often wears either a purple or white garment or is dressed in a red and blue combination. We will depict a few of these creation phases:
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The Trinity God25 is being depicted in a white garment including a red sleeve with the winged Holy Spirit at the backside. This Trinity symbolism has been clearly identified form the next detailed figure:
25:
From the Neapolitanic Bible (1360)
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The following creation phase depicts a God in a purple garment with a golden sleeve in the Utrechter Bible (1460) as created by Evert van Soudenbalch26, who may have been suggesting Eve is pregnant with her first child (?)
26:
Codex 2771, fol. 10r (Genesis)
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The Wenzel Bible (1389/1395)
In the Wenzel Bible the Creator God is wearing garments combining red and blue colours.
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In the book Genesis the Wenzel Bible depicts a Creator God resolving an adult Eve from Adam.
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The Eberler Bible (1464) The Eberler Bible depicts a Creator God in a purple garment resolving an adult Eve from the side of a sleeping Adam.
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Fig 44: Creation legend in the Korczek Bible (1400) The following table lists an overview of the (15) main illustrated codices available at the KHM in Vienna. Except for the Rado-Bible these manuscripts will always apply some combinations of red and blue, which will be found in the header-lines, in the initials, in the garments and in the other decorations. 62
Codex
Year
Main colours
colours in headers and initials
Divine garments
Vienna
550
red/blue/white
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red/blue/ white
Rado
875
Yellow/red/ green
Yellow/red/ green
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Paris
1250
red/blue
red & blue
red/blue
Admont
1150
red/blue/green
red
red/blue
Lilienfeld
1225
red/blue/green
red & blue
red/green
Krems
1275
red/blue
red & blue
red/blue
Wenzel
1390
red/blue/gold
red/blue/gold
red/blue
Korczek
1400
purple/green/ gold
red & blue
purple
Neapel
1360
red/blue
red & blue
white
Eberler
1464
red/blue/green
red
red/blue/ green
Schreier
1472
red/blue/green
red & blue
red/purple/ green
Utrecht
1430
red/blue/gold
red ; initials in red & blue
purple
Hieronymos
1488
red/blue/gold
red & blue
red/blue
Utrecht
1460
red/blue/green
red ; initials in red & blue
purple
Paris
1225
red/blue/gold
1308
red/blue/gold
27
Dante
red/blue red/blue
red/blue
Table 1: Categorisation of medieval Bibles 27:
Vatican Codex of La Divina Commedia (approximately 1308)
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9 Identification of colouring symbols Although there a written proof seems to be missing, red and blue are to be considered as religious symbols. Obviously the colours may be related to the sun and the moon, which are known as religious elements representing male and female attributes. These symbols have been observed in the biblical decorations as well. The sun and moon will always be identified by opposite genders, The Mediterranean peoples identified a male sun (“Sol”) accompanied by a female moon (“Luna”). In Egyptian traditional colourings the male sun has usually been displayed by a red circle (and only in seldom cases by a yellow disc), whereas the female moon is being attributed by blue light. At the northern side of the Alps the genders are reversed. In German language the sun is female and the moon is a male symbol. The medieval Bibles seem to depict the male moon as a blue object, which will also refer to the blue colourings for the warriors' faces as documented by Julius Caesar in “De Bello Gallico”. This leaves the identification for the male and female symbols open. There may be a clear distinction in gender symbolism between red and blue, but we cannot be sure which gender is to be attributed to the basic colours. As fas as I can see red seems to have been male in southern areas (e.g. Egypt) whereas red may have been female in northern areas (e.g. Germany). Of course the blue colours will always refer to the opposite gender, whereas purple is a divine mixture of red and blue. 65
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10 Modern androgynous symbolism
The Albertina museum exposed a lithographic painting28 name David & Bethsabée created by Marc Chagall in 1956. 28:
Marc Chagall (1887-1985)
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Marc Chagall (1887-1985) clearly used the symbolic colours red and blue to identify the female and male person. However it remains unclear whether red is a female and blue is a male symbol. According to the arrangement in the painting Chagall probably applied the red colour to represent male symbolism and blue to represent the female symbolism. The following contribution of an androgynous face has been created 2003 by the author for an exhibition.
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The Russian tri-colour Banner They’re waving the red, white and blue over in Russia today, though not necessarily in that order. The white-blue-red Russian tri-colour flag dates back to the 1660s when Czar Alexei Mikhailovich ordered ships to fly a similar banner for identification. Historians speculate it may have been inspired by the Dutch flag, the oldest remaining tri-colour national flag, but both tri-colours may have a common religious base. In the 1880s Czar Alexander III declared the tri-color flag the official flag of Russia. After the October Revolution of 1917, the tri-colour was replaced by the red Soviet hammer-andsickle flag. This banner however did not survive the period of time for the Soviet Union. At Russia's independence from the Soviet Union the Russian legislature chose to fly Russia’s historic tri-color flag instead of the hammer-and-sickle flag of the Soviet Union. It was only a piece of cloth, but the symbolic gesture of raising the pre-Soviet flag definitely symbolized the end of the Soviet Union.
Other modern Banners As suggested in the book Dyaeus several banners (for the Netherlands, France's tricoloure, the British Union Jack and the American Stars & Stripes) which are applying red, white & blue may have been based on the biblical symbolism as documented in this report.
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11 Conclusion To me this report does not leave any doubt in the discussion of androgynous symbolism in the ancient colouring codes for purple, red & blue. Unclarity remains at the exact genderdefinition for the male and female symbols. The colouring codes for the garments in ancient oil paintings seems to be following the wealthy decorations in the medieval codices, which mainly consist of Bibles. From the intensity of the decorations we probably may identify the book Genesis as the most important part of the Bible to the medieval religious leaders29. The most important identifying religious symbols are the colours red and blue, probably symbolizing the androgynous elements in ancient religions. The biblical decorations clearly follow the divine commands as stated in the book Exodus for the garments of the earliest Jewish Covenant-sanctuaries. Another uncertainty is the missing link between the earliest Bibles and the medieval codices as indicated by the Radobible, which lacks any reference to the red and blue symbolism. Early Hebrew Bibles are being commented by the famous rabbi Solomon ben Isaac (“Rashi”, 1040-1105), who clearly formulated an androgynous Genesis with a symmetrical split up for the male and female halves in an androgynous first being Adam.
29:
The colouring system cannot have been chosen by the copying monks themselves and probably has been defined by the leading management of the medieval Church.
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This manuscript Dyaeus II has been composed to be integrated in the former book Dyaeus, but will be published as an individual book itself.
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