The Dore Bible Illustrations

French artist Gustave Doré (1832-1883) produced hundreds of quality Bible story illustrations in his lifetime. These illustrations were used in Bibles of many languages in Nineteenth Century Europe and later in the Americas. Many masters produced such artwork for illustrating Biblical themes, and Doré was among the most famous of them.

Doré's realistic style breathed new life into these real stories. Centuries of mosaics, frescos, and stone reliefs, with their precise iconography, along with wood block impressions (recall the ever present halos on particular subjects) had caricaturized many Bible stories in the minds of believers. But his persons and places look real. Gustave Doré's work (and artistic license) was criticized by some in his own day, but these illustrations stand the test of time as good physical representations of important Biblical events.