Gustave Doré's illustrations for La Grande Bible de Tours

"Moses Breaking the Tables of the Law", an engraving from Doré's illustrations for La Grande Bible de Tours (1866).

In 1866, the French artist, printmaker, and illustrator Gustave Doré (1832–1883) published a series of 241 wood engravings for a new deluxe edition of the 1843 French translation of the Vulgate Bible popularly known as the Bible de Tours. This new edition was known as La Grande Bible de Tours and its illustrations were immensely successful. They have been reproduced countless times worldwide, influencing the visual arts and popular culture in ways difficult to measure.

La Grande Bible De Tours was a large folio (“grand in folio”) edition published in two volumes simultaneously by Mame in Tours, France and by Cassell and Company in England in 1866. The French translation known as the Bible de Tours had originally been published in 1843 and was done by Jean Jacques Bourassé (1813-1872) and Pierre Désiré Janvier.

The series comprises 139 plates depicting scenes from the Old Testament, 21 from the Apocrypha, and 81 from the New Testament.

Background

Doré’s artistic reasons for undertaking the Bible project are outlined by his biographer, Joanna Richardson…

It offered him an almost endless series of intensely dramatic events. His visions of the looming tower of Babel, the plague of darkness in Egypt, the death of Samson, Isaiah’s vision of the destruction of Babylon; these vast, forbidding scenes, heavy with doom, remind one of the visions of John Martin. They also reveal many elements by now familiar in Doré’s work: the mountain scenes, the lurid skies, the complicated battles, the almost unremitting brutalism. Doré’s illustrations of the Old Testament remind us, above all, of the God of Wrath: of massacres and murders, decapitations and avenging angels. There is, too, a period element: the angels are Victorian angels, full of sentiment; the women are, again, keepsake women, the children are Victorian children: sentimental or wise beyond their years.^[1]

The illustrations

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The Old Testament

	Scene	Image	Book/chapter/verse depicted
1	"The Creation of Light"		Book of Genesis 1:3
2	"The Formation of Eve" (or "The Creation of Eve")		Genesis 2:21-22
3	"Adam and Eve Driven Out of Eden"		Genesis 3:24
4	"Cain and Abel Offering Their Sacrifices"		Genesis 4:3-5
5	"The Death of Abel" (or "Cain Slays Abel")		Genesis 4:8-9
6	"The World Destroyed by Water"		Genesis 7:24
7	"The Deluge" (or "The Great Flood")		Genesis 8:3-4
8	"The Dove Sent Forth from the Ark"		Genesis 8:11
9	"Noah Cursing Canaan" (or "Noah Curses Ham and Canaan")		Genesis 9:24-25
10	"The Confusion of Tongues"		Genesis 11:6-8
11	"Abraham Journeying into the Land of Canaan"		Genesis 12:1
12	"Abraham and the Three Angels"		Genesis 18:9-10
13	"The Flight of Lot"		Genesis 19:24-26
14	"The Expulsion of Ishmael and His Mother"		Genesis 21:14
15	"Hagar and Ishmael in the Wilderness"		Genesis 21:17-18
16	"The Trial of Abraham's Faith"		Genesis 22:10-12
17	"The Burial of Sarah"		Genesis 23:19
18	"Eliezer and Rebekah"		Genesis 24:16
19	"The Meeting of Isaac and Rebekah"		Genesis 24:65-67
20	"Isaac Blessing Jacob"		Genesis 27:29
21	"Jacob's Dream"		Genesis 28:12
22	"Jacob Keeping Laban's Flocks" (or "Jacob Tends Laban's Flocks and Meets Rachel")		Genesis 29:1-20
23	"The Prayer of Jacob" (or "Jacob Prays for Protection")		Genesis 32:11
24	"Jacob Wrestling with the Angel"		Genesis 32:24
25	"The Meeting of Jacob and Esau"		Genesis 33:3-4
26	"Joseph Sold by His Brethren"		Genesis 37:28
27	"Joseph Interpreting the Pharaoh's Dream"		Genesis 41:25-26
28	"Joseph Makes Himself Known to His Brethren" (or "Joseph Reveals Himself to His Brothers")		Genesis 45:1
29	"Jacob Goeth Into Egypt"		Genesis 46:5
30	"The Child Moses on the Nile"		Exodus 2:3
31	"The Finding of Moses"		Exodus 2:6
32	"Moses and Aaron Before Pharaoh"		Exodus 7:10
33	"The Murrain of Beasts" (or "The Fifth Plague: Livestock Disease")		Exodus 9:2-3
34	"The Plague of Darkness" (or "The Ninth Plague: Darkness")		Exodus 10:22
35	"The Firstborn Slain"		Exodus 12:29-30
36	"The Egyptians Urge Moses to Depart"		Exodus 12:31
37	"The Egyptians Drowned in the Red Sea"		Exodus 14:27
38	"Moses Striking the Rock in Horeb"		Exodus 17:6
39	"The Giving of the Law Upon Mt. Sinai"		Exodus 19:18
40	"Moses Coming Down From Mt. Sinai"		Exodus 32:15
41	"Moses Breaking the Tables of the Law"		Exodus 32:19
42	"Return of the Spies from the Land of Promise"		Numbers 13:27
43	"Death of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram"		Numbers 16:32
44	"The Brazen Serpent" (or "The Bronze Serpent")		Numbers 21:9
45	"The Angel Appearing to Balaam"		Numbers 22:23
46	"The Children of Israel Crossing Jordan"		Joshua 3:17
47	"The Angel Appearing to Joshua"		Joshua 5:9-15
48	"The Walls of Jericho Falling Down"	100px	Joshua 6:20
49	"Joshua Spares Rahab"		Joshua 6:25
50	"The Stoning of Achan"	100px	Joshua 7:25
51	"Joshua Committing the Town of Ai to the Flames"	100px	Joshua 8:20
52	"Destruction of the Army of the Amorites"		Joshua 10:11
53	"Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still"	100px	Joshua 10:13
54	"Jael and Sisera"	100px	Judges 4:21
55	"Deborah"	100px	Judges 5:7-9
56	"Gideon Choosing His Soldiers"	100px	Judges 7:7
57	"The Midianites Put to Flight"	100px	Judges 7:22-23
58	"Death of the Sons of Gideon"	100px	Judges 9:5
59	"Death of Abimelech"		Judges 9:52-53
60	"Jephthah's Daughter Coming to Meet Her Father"		Judges 11:34
61	"The Daughters of Israel Lamenting the Daughter of Jephthah"	100px	Judges 11:40
62	"Samson Slaying a Lion"		Judges 14:5-6
63	"Samson Destroying the Philistines With the Jawbone of an Ass"		Judges 15:15
64	"Samson Carrying Away the Gates of Gaza"	100px	Judges 16:3
65	"Samson and Delilah"		Judges 16:17
66	" Death of Samson"	100px	Judges 16:30
67	" The Levite Finding the Corpse of the Woman"	100px	Judges 19:25-27
68	" The Levite Bearing Away the Body of the Woman"	100px	Judges 19:30
69	"The Children of Benjamin Carrying Off the Virgins of Jabesh Gilead"	100px	Judges 21:12
70	"Naomi and Her Daughters-In-Law"	100px	Ruth 1:16
71	"Boaz and Ruth"		Ruth 2:22-23
72	"Return of the Ark to Bethshemesh"	100px	1 Samuel 6:13
73	"Samuel Blessing Saul"	100px	1 Samuel 9:21
74	"Death of Agag"		1 Samuel 15:33
75	"David and Goliath"	100px	1 Samuel 17:50
76	"Saul Attempts the Life of David"	100px	1 Samuel 18:11-12
77	"The Escape of David Through the Window"	100px	1 Samuel 19:11-12
78	" David and Jonathan"	100px	1 Samuel 20:42
79	" David Showing Saul that He had Spared His Life"	100px	1 Samuel 24:10
80	"Saul and the Witch of Endor"	100px	1 Samuel 28:7
81	"Death of Saul"		1 Samuel 31:5-6
82	"Combat Between the Champions of Ish-Bosheth and David"	100px	2 Samuel 2:15-17
83	"David Punishing the Ammonites"	100px	2 Samuel 12:31
84	"Death of Absalom"		2 Samuel 18:9
85	" David Mourning the Death of Absalom"	100px	2 Samuel 18:33
86	" Rizpah's Kindness Unto the Dead"	100px	2 Samuel 21:9-10
87	"Abishai Saves the Life of David"		2 Samuel 21:17
88	"Judgment of Solomon"	100px	1 Kings 3:25-27
89	"Cutting Down Cedars for the Construction of the Temple"	100px	1 Kings 5:5-6
90	"The Disobedient Prophet Slain by a Lion"	100px	1 Kings 13:24-25
91	" Elijah Raiseth the Son of the Widow of Zarephath"	100px	1 Kings 17:22-23
92	" Slaughter of the Prophets of Baal"	100px	1 Kings 18:38-40
93	" Elijah Nourished by an Angel"	100px	1 Kings 19:5-6
94	"Slaughter of the Syrians by the Children of Israel"	100px	1 Kings 20:29
95	"Death of Ahab"	100px	1 Kings 22:35
96	"Elijah Destroys the Messengers of Ahaziah by Fire"	100px	2 Kings 1:10
97	"Elijah Taken Up To Heaven in a Chariot of Fire"		2 Kings 2:11
98	"The Children Destroyed by Bears"	100px	2 Kings 2:23-24
99	"The Famine in Samaria"	100px	2 Kings 6:25-26
100	"The Death of Jezebel"		2 Kings 9:33
101	"Jehu's Companions Finding the Remains of Jezebel"	100px	2 Kings 9:34-35
102	" The Strange Nations Slain by the Lions of Samaria"	100px	2 Kings 17:25
103	"Destruction of the Army of Sennacherib"	100px	2 Kings 19:35
104	"Slaughter of the Sons of Zedekiah Before Their Father"		2 Kings 25:7
105	"The Inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead Recovering the Bodies of Saul and His Sons"	100px	1 Chron 10:12
106	"Plague of Jerusalem"	100px	1 Chron 21:16
107	"Solomon"	100px	2 Chron 1:10
108	"Solomon Receiving the Queen of Sheba"	100px	2 Chron 9:1-2
109	"The Destruction of the Armies of the Ammonites and Moabites"	100px	2 Chron 20:22-23
110	"Death of Athaliah"		2 Chron 23:13-15
111	"Cyrus Restoring the Vessels of the Temple"		Ezra 1:7-8
112	"The Rebuilding of the Temple"	100px	Ezra 3:11
113	"Artaxerxes Granting Liberty to the Jews"	100px	Ezra 7:13
114	"Ezra in Prayer"	100px	Ezra 9:6
115	"Nehemiah Viewing Secretly the Ruins of the Walls of Jerusalem"		Nehemiah 2:13
116	"Ezra Reading the Law in the Hearing of the People"	100px	Nehemiah 8:5-6
117	"The Queen Vashti Refusing to Obey the Command of Ahasuerus"	100px	Esther 1:11-12
118	"Triumph of Mordecai"	100px	Esther 6:11
119	"Esther Accusing Haman"	100px	Esther 7:5-6
120	"Job Hearing of His Ruin"	100px	Job 1:20-22
121	" Job and His Friends"	100px	Job 2:11-13
122	" Isaiah"	100px	Isaiah 6:8-9
123	" Isaiah's Vision of the Destruction of Babylon"	100px	Isaiah 13:20-21
124	" The Destruction of Leviathan"	100px	Isaiah 27:1
125	" Jeremiah"	100px	Jeremiah 1:14-15
126	" Baruch Writing Jeremiah's Prophecies"	100px	Jeremiah 36:4
127	" The People Mourning Over the Ruins of Jerusalem"	100px	Lamentations 1:8
128	"Ezekiel Prophesying"	100px	Ezekiel 1:3
129	"The Vision of the Valley of the Dry Bones"		Ezekiel 37:4-5
130	"Daniel"	100px	Daniel 2:20-21
131	"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the Fiery Furnace"		Daniel 3:28
132	"Daniel Interpreting the Writing on the Wall"	100px	Daniel 5:5-6
133	"Daniel in the Den of Lions"	100px	Daniel 6:20-21
134	"The Vision of the Four Beasts"	100px	Daniel 7:2-3
135	"Amos"	100px	Amos 1:1
136	"Jonah Cast Forth by the Whale"	100px	Jonah 2:1,10
137	"Jonah Preaching to the Ninevites"	100px	Jonah 3:4-5
138	"Micah Exhorting the Israelites to Repentance"	100px	Micah 6:7-8
139	"The Vision of the Four Chariots"		Zechariah 6:1

The Apocrypha

	Scene	Image	Book/chapter/verse depicted
140	"Tobias and the Angel"		Tobit 6:4
141	"The Angel Raphael and the Family of Tobit"		Tobit 12:15, 20
142	"Judith and Holofernes"		Judith 13:8
143	"Judith Shows the Head of Holofernes"		Judith 13:14
144	"Esther Before the King"		Esther [Apocrypha] 15:6-7
145	"Mattathias and the Apostate"		I Maccabees 2:23-24
146	"Mattathias Appeals to the Jewish Refugees"	100px	I Maccabees 2:50
147	"Judas Maccabeus Pursues Timotheus"	100px	I Maccabees 5:42
148	"The Death of Eleazar"	100px	I Maccabees 6:43, 46
149	"Jonathan Destroys the Temple of Dagon"	100px	I Maccabees 10:84
150	"Heliodorus Is Cast Down"	100px	II Maccabees 3:25-27
151	"The Army Appears in the Heavens"	100px	II Maccabees 5:2
152	"The Martyrdom of Eleazar the Scribe"	100px	II Maccabees 6:30
153	"The Courage of a Mother"	100px	II Maccabees 7:29
154	"The Punishment of Antiochus"	100px	II Maccabees 9:7, 9
155	"The Angel Is Sent to Deliver Israel"	100px	II Maccabees 11:8
156	"Judas Maccabeus before the Army of Nicanor"		II Maccabees 15:21
157	"Baruch"	100px	Baruch 3:14
158	"Susanna in the Bath"		The History of Susanna 21 (i.e., 13:1-26 of the "Extended Book of Daniel")
159	"The Justification of Susanna"		The History of Susanna 61-62 (i.e., 13:36-64 of the "Extended Book of Daniel")
160	"Daniel Confounds the Priests of Bel"		Bel and the Dragon (i.e., 14:1-27 of the "Extended Book of Daniel")

The New Testament

	Scene	Image	Book/chapter/verse depicted
161	"The Wise Men Guided by the Star"		Matthew 2:1-2
162	"The Flight Into Egypt"		Matthew 2:13-14
163	"The Massacre of the Innocents"		Matthew 2:16
164	"The Sermon on the Mount"	100px	Matthew 5:7-10
165	"The Dumb Man Possessed"	100px	Matthew 12:22-25
166	"Christ in the Synagogue"	100px	Matthew 13:54
167	"The Daughter of Herod Receiving the Head of John the Baptist"		Matthew 14:8-10
168	"Christ Feeding the Multitude"	100px	Matthew 14:19
169	"Jesus Healing the Sick"	100px	Matthew 15:31
170	"The Transfiguration"		Matthew 17:2-3
171	"Jesus Healing the Lunatic"	100px	Matthew 17:14-15
172	"Entry of Jesus Into Jerusalem"	100px	Matthew 21:7-8
173	"Christ and the Tribute Money"	100px	Matthew 22:20-21
174	" Jesus Praying in the Garden"	100px	Matthew 26:40-41
175	" Jesus Scourged"	100px	Matthew 27:26
176	" Christ Mocked"	100px	Matthew 27:29-30
177	" The Arrival at Calvary"	100px	Matthew 27:33-34
178	" The Erection of the Cross"	100px	Matthew 27:35
179	" The Descent From the Cross"	100px	Matthew 27:57-58
180	" The Dead Christ"	100px	Matthew 27:59
181	" The Burial of Christ"	100px	Matthew 27:60-61
182	" The Resurrection"	100px	Matthew 28:5-6
183	" John the Baptist Preaching in the Wilderness"	100px	Mark 1:6-7
184	" The Baptism of Jesus"	100px	Mark 1:9-11
185	" The Disciples Plucking Corn on the Sabbath"	100px	Mark 2:23-25
186	"Jesus Stilling the Tempest"	100px	Mark 4:37-38
187	"Jesus Blessing the Little Children"	100px	Mark 10:13-14
188	"The Widow's Mite"		Mark 12:42-43
189	"The Last Supper"	100px	Mark 14:22-24
190	"The Judas Kiss"		Mark 14:45-46
191	" Jesus Falling Beneath the Cross"	100px	Mark 15:21
192	" The Ascension"	100px	Mark 16:19
193	"The Annunciation"	100px	Luke 1:26-28
194	"The Nativity"		Luke 2:15-16
195	"Jesus With the Doctors"	100px	Luke 2:46-47
196	"The Temptation of Jesus"	100px	Luke 4:7-8
197	"Jesus Healing the Man Possessed With a Devil"		Luke 4:36-37
198	" Jesus Preaching at the Sea of Galilee"	100px	Luke 5:3
199	" Mary Magdalene Repentant"	100px	Luke 8:2
200	" Jesus Raising Up the Daughter of Jairus"	100px	Luke 8:52-54
201	" The Good Samaritan"	100px	Luke 10:33
202	" Arrival of the Good Samaritan at the Inn"	100px	Luke 10:34-35
203	" Jesus at the House of Martha and Mary"	100px	Luke 10:41-42
204	" Jesus Preaching to the Multitude"	100px	Luke 12:29-31
205	" The Return of the Prodigal Son"	100px	Luke 15:17
206	" The Prodigal Son in the Arms of His Father"	100px	Luke 15:20-21
207	" Lazarus at the Rich Man's House"	100px	Luke 16:20-21
208	" The Pharisee and the Publican"	100px	Luke 18:11-13
209	" The Agony in the Garden"	100px	Luke 22:43-44
210	"The Crucifixion"		Luke 23:34-35
211	"The Darkness at the Crucifixion"	100px	Luke 23:44-45
212	"Jesus and the Disciples Going to Emmaus"		Luke 24:26-27
213	"The Marriage in Cana"	100px	John 2:5-7
214	"The Buyers and Sellers Driven Out of the Temple"	100px	John 2:15
215	"Jesus and the Woman of Samaria"	100px	John 4:13-14
216	"Jesus Walking on the Sea"		John 6:19-20
217	"Jesus and the Woman Taken in Adultery"	100px	John 8:3-5
218	"Resurrection of Lazarus"	100px	John 11:41-43
219	"St. Peter Denying Christ"	100px	John 18:26-27
220	"The Crown of Thorns"	100px	John 19:2-3
221	"Christ Presented to the People"	100px	John 19:15
222	"Nailing Christ to the Cross"	100px	John 19:18-19
223	"The Miraculous Draught of Fishes"	100px	John 21:10-11
224	"The Descent of the Spirit"	100px	Acts 2:2-3
225	"The Apostles Preaching the Gospel"	100px	Acts 2:32-33
226	"St. Peter and St. John at the Beautiful Gate"	100px	Acts 3:6-7
227	"Death of Ananias"	100px	Acts 5:4-5
228	"Martydom of St. Stephen"	100px	Acts 7:59-60
229	"Conversion of Saul"	100px	Acts 9:3-5
230	"St. Peter the House of Cornelius"	100px	Acts 10:28
231	"St. Peter Delivered From Prison"	100px	Acts 12:7-8
232	"St. Paul at Ephesus"	100px	Acts 19:19
233	"St. Paul Rescued From the Multitude"	100px	Acts 21:34-35
234	"St. Paul Shipwrecked"	100px	Acts 27:43-44
235	"St. Paul Preaching to the Thessalonians"	100px	1 Thessalonians 2:11-12
236	"St. John at Patmos"	100px	Revelation 1:9
237	"The Vision of Death"	100px	Revelation 6:7-8
238	"The Crowned Virgin: A Vision of John"	100px	Revelation 12:1-3
239	"Babylon Fallen"	100px	Revelation 18:2
240	"The Last Judgment"	100px	Revelation 20:12
241	"The New Jerusalem"	100px	Revelation 21:1-2

References

1. Richardson, Joanna (1980), Gustave Doré, London: Cassell, pp 72-73.