2-750-912 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The main world religions, c1723, (1908). Representation of the main religions of the world: in the foreground, group of Muslim men with prayer beads, one standing and preaching, another holds a list of the Seven Pillars of Islam, while sinners burn in Hell behind; the Roman Catholic Church, represented by a female figure wearing a papal tiara trampling a rabbi underfoot - the rabbi is holding a parchment with hebraic inscription; an old woman with crown of thorns, personifying Superstition, grabs the Victory from the female figure in armour representing Ancient Rome; on the left Christian religion personified stands under a tree with an open Bible which a Franciscan monk is trying to close; in front of them, a priest baptises a woman; scenes of 'pagan' cults in the distance. Frontispiece to "Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples du monde", (Religious Ceremonies and Customs of All the Peoples of the World), by Jean-Frédéric Bernard, illustrated by Bernard Picart. Although Picart never left Europe, he relied on accounts by those who had. The book 'marked a major turning point in European attitudes toward religious belief and hence the sacred'. [Amsterdam, 1723-1737]. From "La Revue De L'Art - Ancien et Moderne" - Volume XXIV, July-December 1908, [Paris, 1908]