Ikonografia cudownych zjawisk na przykładzie wybranych ilustracji w XVI-wiecznej "Księdze cudów" z Augsburga

This paper discusses some selected illustrations from the recently discovered Book of Miracles. Thanks to its facsimile released in 2013 in Cologne, the manuscript has become available to a wider circle of scholars. The Book of Miracles was created in the mid-sixteenth century in Augsburg. It covers some biblical events and some occurrences from the period from 73 BC to 1552 AD.In the modern era, unusual phenomena were considered prophetic. Illustrations from the Book of Miracles are a valuable testimony to the highly developed imagination of the people living in the Renaissance. They present many miraculous phenomena such as atmospheric anomalies, hybrid creatures and biblical events. The purpose of the article is to present selected illustrations from the Book of Miracles and to analyze them against a wider literary and iconographic background. The Book of Miracles refers not only to the Bible but also to folklore beliefs and the magical tradition.