The GDELT Project

Gemini For Museums: Identifying That An Institution's 1585 Jode Is Actually A Century-Later 1684 Visscher

Kalev Leetaru

For decades, the catalog of a major institution has listed a rare 1585 Jode Thesaurus picture Bible among its holdings that was lacking its original title and contents pages. We were recently able to determine that the work was actually a century-later reprint from 1674 by Visscher by examining the plates (confirmed by a previously forgotten letter and title information from the original donor). In this case, we are extensively familiar with both works and able to reattribute the work based on having so deeply examined both works. In addition, at our side was the incredible and definitive New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish: The De Jode Dynasty I-IV that includes the precise state and reprinting information on each plate for added confirmation. In the place of a deeply knowledgeable researcher who has extensively worked with both editions and had the definitive guide on the plate series at hand, could Gemini simply look at a given plate from the series and correctly identify it entirely on its own? If so, it would suggest models like Gemini could be used by institutions to help vet their holdings that lack their original title and attributional pages.

Here we explore two images: one that is only present in the Visscher and one that is present in both and requires correctly spotting the publisher credit engraved in the bottom of the image to distinguish the edition. It turns out that Gemini arrives at the correct attribution for both images within seconds (the actual publication date of the specific Visscher is not determinable from these two sample images and thus varies in the responses based on likely editions), demonstrating the tremendous potential of frontier models like Gemini to help museums verify and help confirm the attribution of their holdings.

Let's start with this image that is present only in the Visscher. Its presence in the copy was a dead giveaway that it was the later Visscher, but let's see if Gemini is familiar enough with the various editions to know that:

which book is this from?

Indeed, Gemini instantly attributes it to Visscher, both from the subject matter and the presence of the Visscher attribution:

Based on the inscriptions and the style of the engraving, this image is a plate from a "Picture Bible" published by Claes Janszoon Visscher in the early 17th century, most likely from his famous compilation titled "Theatrum Biblicum" (The Theater of the Bible).

Here is a breakdown of the clues in the image that lead to this conclusion:

    1. The Publisher's Mark: In the bottom center-right margin, you can clearly see the text CJVisscher excu. (short for excudit). This indicates that Claes Jansz. Visscher, a prominent Dutch engraver, mapmaker, and publisher, printed and published this image.
    2. The Format: Visscher was famous for publishing large, bound volumes of biblical engravings. He often purchased older, 16th-century copper plates from previous publishers (like Gerard de Jode), altered them by adding his own name, and compiled them into massive visual bibles. The most famous of these is the Theatrum Biblicum, first published in 1614.
    3. The Designer: In the bottom right corner, there is a tiny inscription that reads Cris. in. (Crispinus invenit), along with the number 1 (indicating it is the first plate in a series). This suggests the original drawing/design for the engraving was done by the 16th-century Flemish artist Crispijn van den Broeck, whose works were frequently included in these compiled bibles.
    4. The Subject Matter: The image depicts the Creation of Adam and the Naming of the Animals. The Latin and Hebrew text in the image confirms this:
      • Top Right Halo: Contains the Hebrew Tetragrammaton (YHWH) and Latin text describing God breathing life into Adam (Genesis 2:7).
      • Top Left Halo: Contains Latin text indicating Adam is naming all the living creatures (Genesis 2:20), which is depicted in the background.
      • Bottom Caption: "Exiguo fingit mortalia corpora limo, Materiam terra suppeditante, Deus" (God molds mortal bodies from a little mud, the earth supplying the material), followed by the citation for Genesis Chapter 2, verse 7.

In contrast, this image appears in both editions. For Gemini to correctly attribute it, it will need to spot the Visscher attribution on the bottom to distinguish it from the Jode:

which book is this from? think carefully and tell me the most likely book, including its publisher, title and publication year.

Without any hinting, Gemini correctly identified the Visscher publishing credit and attributed the plate accordingly:

Based on the inscriptions and the style of the engraving, this image is from a famous 17th-century "Picture Bible." Here are the details you requested:

How we can tell:

    1. The Subject: The image depicts the biblical story from Genesis Chapter 4 (noted in the bottom right corner as "Genes. Cap. 4. Ver. 3."), showing Cain and Abel making their sacrifices. Abel's offering is accepted (smoke rising to heaven), while Cain's is rejected.
    2. The Inscriptions (The "Credits"):
      • Bottom left: "Michael de coxcy in[venit]" – This tells us the original design was drawn by the renowned Flemish Renaissance artist Michiel Coxie.
      • Bottom center-right: "Sadeler fecit" – This indicates the plate was engraved by Johannes Sadeler I (the 'S' in this old script looks a bit like an 'H'). Sadeler engraved a known series of four prints on the story of Cain and Abel after Coxie's designs in the late 16th century.
      • Bottom center-left: "Visscher excud." – This is the crucial clue for identifying the book. "Excudit" means "published." Claes Jansz. Visscher was a prominent Dutch publisher in the 17th century. He frequently acquired older printing plates (like this one by Sadeler), added his own publisher's mark, and compiled hundreds of them into massive, popular picture Bibles.
    3. The Context: Individual prints like this were often bound together into albums. The Theatrum Biblicum was Visscher's monumental project to create a comprehensive visual Bible by assembling the best engravings from previous generations alongside new ones. Because this older Sadeler plate bears Visscher's specific publisher mark, it was almost certainly printed to be included in an edition of the Theatrum Biblicum.

If Gemini had struggled to identify the attributions on the bottom of the image (this can happen sometimes if they are hidden in the image proper), we can help Gemini by explicitly pointing it to the names:

what book is this image from? think carefully and look at the various names in the bottom of the image

Based on the inscriptions at the bottom of the image, this is not from a traditional text-based book like a novel, but rather a plate from a bound collection of biblical engravings (often called a "Picture Bible") or a specific print series.

By looking closely at the names and text you pointed out, we can identify exactly what this is and where it likely comes from:

1. Decoding the text at the bottom:

Conclusion:

This specific image is Plate 1 from the print series "The Story of Cain and Abel," originally designed by Michiel Coxie and engraved by Jan Sadeler in the late 16th century.

Because it bears the imprint Visscher excud., this specific print is a 17th-century reprint. It was almost certainly published as part of Visscher's massive, famous "picture bible" called the Theatrum Biblicum (The Theater of the Bible).

First published around 1639, the Theatrum Biblicum was a large book made entirely of hundreds of biblical engravings compiled from various older masters, intended to be a visual guide to the Bible.