Annotations and Meditations on the Gospel: The Passion Narratives

Annotations and Meditations on the Gospels, composed by Jerome Nadal (1507-80), St. Ignatius Loyola s closest collaborator in the early days of the Society of Jesus, was first published in Antwerp in 1595 (a second edition followed the same year, and a third edition in 1607). This book combined engravings portraying episodes from the Gospels executed by the premier Flemish engravers of the day with Nadal s explanatory notes and meditations on these episodes as depicted in the engravings, in order to help young Jesuit seminarians to meditate on the Gospels that they heard read at Sunday Mass. The impact of this book on the sacred art of the period after the Council of Trent was enormous not only in Europe, but also in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Nadal s text (1607 edition) is presented in an accessible contemporary translation prepared by Frederick A. Homann, S.J., who also provides the reader with helpful notes and references. The translation is preceded by a thorough introduction to Nadal, his book, and its images by Walter S. Melion. Melion s introductory essay in Vol. 1: The Infancy Narratives is entitled The Art of Vision in Jerome Nadal s Adnotationes et Meditationes in Evangelia.