07/31/2026
A New Treasure for the Treasury: The Printing Block of the Biblia Pauperum

Since 2024, the Gutenberg Museum has held one of the most significant testimonies to early book and image culture: a Biblia Pauperum, also known as a "Poor Man's Bible." The acquisition, made possible for around €1.85 million thanks to the generous support of several major patrons, brought this precious block book to the museum, where it has been on permanent display in the Treasury ever since.

To make the centuries-old technique behind this treasure tangible, the museum commissioned Danish artist and wood carver Jorge Larguito with a special task: creating a faithful replica of a printing block — the wooden form once used to print the text and image of a page from the block book. Working in meticulous detail, Larguito transferred the drawing and lettering of the original into wood, bringing a printing technique that is over 500 years old back into view.

Premiere in the Treasury

On Friday, July 31, the finished printing block was presented for the first time — with the artist himself in attendance. Larguito spoke about the challenges of wood carving and demonstrated his craft live: using his current project, another block-book page from the Apocalypse, he showed step by step how a drawing becomes a print-ready wood block.

The exclusive event was reserved for the friends of the Gutenberg Museum and, due to space constraints, limited to 20 participants — a rare glimpse into a craft that only a few still master today.

Now on view in the exhibition hall

The printing block moved straight into its new display case at the press event — not in the Treasury itself, but in the exhibition hall that houses it. Visitors to the museum can now discover the original and the replica in the very same room: the historic Biblia Pauperum in the Treasury, and the faithful printing block right next door.