Joannes Richter

Secret Colour Coding in the Bible

For my androgynous partner Fries

2
 Joannes Richter

Secret Colour Coding in the

Bible
- and in other documents -

Published by Lulu

-2009-

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© 2009 by Joannes Richter
Published by Lulu
www.lulu.com
All Rights Reserved
ISBN: xxx-x-xxxx-xxxx-x

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Contents
1 Introduction............................................................................9
The National Library...........................................................9
2 Ancient Egyptian Arts..........................................................13
3 Medieval paintings...............................................................17
4 Birds as religious Symbols...................................................21
5 Colouring codes in the Pentateuch.......................................25
Androgynous Adam in the 2nd century AD......................25
Codings for androgynous symbolism................................26
6 Early Hebrew Bibles............................................................35
The Zohar..........................................................................36
7 colour Codings in the medieval Bibles................................37
Categorizing Bibles...........................................................37
Red & blue Initials............................................................40
Heading lines.....................................................................41
Numbering lines................................................................43
Initial lines.........................................................................44
Genealogical trees.............................................................49
Background colours..........................................................51
8 The divine garments.............................................................53
Garments for the Creator God...........................................53
Creation of Adam and resolving Eve................................56
9 Identification of colouring symbols.....................................65
10 Modern androgynous symbolism.......................................67
The Russian tri-colour Banner..........................................69
Other modern Banners......................................................69
11 Conclusion.........................................................................71

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List of Figures and Photographs
Fig 1: Creator God as displayed in the Wenzel Bible..............10
Fig 2: Wenzel of Bohemia in blue robe and red stockings.......11
Fig 3: Djed column at an Egyptian sarcophagus.....................13
Fig 4: Blue and red decorations in the KHM...........................14
Fig 5: Blue & Red at the KHM-decorations............................15
Fig 6: Jesus Christ in a blue coat and red robe........................17
Fig 7: Virgin Mary in blue & rose-red garments.....................18
Fig 8: Saint in a blue coat and a red robe.................................19
Fig 9: Kingfisher on a German stamp......................................21
Fig 10: Kingfisher, Alcedo_atthis_2_(Lukasz_Lukasik).........22
Fig 11: Eisvogel (Wiener Dioskurid).......................................22
Fig 12: Kingfisher at the Genesis-page (Wenzel-bible)...........23
Fig 13: Bird at the Genesis-page (Wenzel-bible).....................24
Fig 14: Initials in the Rado-Bible.............................................39
Fig 15: Initials to St. Paul's letter to Philemon........................40
Fig 16: Genesis headline in Neapolitan Bible..........................41
Fig 17: Genesis headline in Neapolitan Bible..........................41
Fig 18: Headerline in the Bolognese Bible (1240)..................42
Fig 19: Book “Jonas” in Ulrich Schreier Bible (1472)............42
Fig 20: Headerline Genesis in the Kremser Bible...................42
Fig 21: Headerline Lucas.........................................................42
Fig 22: Headerline Paris-Bible ................................................43
Fig 23: Numbering lines in the Neapolitan Bible (1360)........43
Fig 24: Genesis-line in the Korczek-Bible (1400)...................44
Fig 25: Initial line for the Kremser Bible (1333).....................44
Fig 26: Initial line for the Kremser Genesis.............................45
Fig 27: Initial Ancient History (14th Century)........................45
Fig 28: Initials for the Kremser Bible (1333)..........................46

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Fig 29: Initials for the Kremser Bible (1333)..........................47
Fig 30: Utrechter Bible (1460).................................................48
Fig 31: Genealogical trees.......................................................49
Fig 32: Trinity God in purple, blue, red and white..................50
Fig 33: Background, Goslar Evangelium, ca. 1240 AD..........51
Fig 34: Red & blue initials in Biblia pauperum (14th cent.). . .52
Fig 35: Creator God with red and blue colour combinations...53
Fig 36: Creator God in red and blue garments.........................54
Fig 37: Jesus Christ being kissed by Judas(1336)...................55
Fig 38: Trinity God resolving Eve from Adam........................56
Fig 39: Trinity God with a winged Holy Spirit........................57
Fig 40: Creation phase of resolving Eve from Adam..............58
Fig 41: Creator God in red and blue garments (1390).............59
Fig 42: Creation Phase in the Wenzel Bible (1390).................60
Fig 43: Creation of Eve in Eberler Bible (1464)......................61
Fig 44: Creation legend in the Korczek Bible (1400)..............62
Fig 45: Androgynous face by Marc Chagall............................67
Fig 46: Androgynous face (painting Joannes Richter, 2003)...68
Fig 47: 15-starred banner over Fort McHenry (1814).............70

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Tabellen
Table 1: Categorisation of medieval Bibles.............................63

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1 Introduction
In search for additional explanations for the biblical colour
codings as described in the book Dyaeus I decided to visit
Vienna at the beginning of December 2009.
Vienna and Austria are very special location to search for
Biblical codings as the museums provide ample information to
check the thesis of religious colour codings in ancient eras.
A three day visit of Vienna enabled us to visit the National
Library and the famous art museums Albertina, Leopold
Museum and KHM1, which are concentrating one of the largest
collections of medieval and modern art in a single site,
including an overview of Egyptian and Greek-Roman
sculptures.

The National Library

By a lucky chance one of the museums the National Library
exhibited an exposition2 named “Wenzel of Bohemia – Saint
and Ruler” in which one of the Bibles is being exposed as a
main topic. To be displayed the Bible had been opened at the
initial Genesis page with its beautiful decorations, which
according to the wealth of colourings clearly must be seen as
the most important part of the Bible. Obviously the coloured
parts lead us to the very biblical symbols which had to be
considered the most dominant religious symbols. The colours
used in these decorations (gold, purple, red and blue) are
leading me to the most important biblical topics: the Genesis
creation story in the Bible.
1:
KHM = Kunst Historisches Museum (“Art Historical Museum”)
2:
Exposition from 27.11.2009 – 31.1.2010

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Nothing has been decorated as wealthy as the Genesis phase.

Fig 1: Creator God as displayed in the Wenzel Bible

In the Wenzel Bible3 the Creator God is wearing a red robe

over a blue inner robe. The blue robe is only to be seen at
special phases, but from the final phase at the seventh creation
day we know it is there. This is a contrast to the garments of
the Virgin Maria, who is wearing a blue overcoat and a red
inner robe. In fact Wenzel himself has been displayed at the
museums leaflet in a blue robe, wearing a red hat decorated
with golden sleeves and red stockings.

3:
exposed at the exhibition as a facsimile copy.

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Fig 2: Wenzel of Bohemia in blue robe and red stockings

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A further visit at the “KHM” confirms my earlier statistics
referring to the Mary's garments, which in 60-70% of the
medieval paintings traditionally consist of a blue overcoat and
a red inner robe. In fact the KHM allowed me to discover these
colouring codes also apply to the garments of the deities (God
and Jesus Christ) and the saints, which will be documented
with a few photographs.
The KHM also allowed me to study some topics in Egyptian
and Greek-Roman arts, which do reveal some androgynous
colourings (red and blue) in the Egyptian Djed-columns,
clearly indicating a link to Egyptian religions. The KHM
however does not expose as many coloured items as the British
Museum (e.g. the original red & blue colourings for the fries in
the Acropolis temple).
The Albertina enabled me to identify a few modern paintings
which also confirm the theory of symbolic colours in religious
artwork, which will be documented in the following chapters.

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2 Ancient Egyptian Arts
A sarcophagus at the KHM museum clearly demonstrates the
alternating symbolic colours red and blue - separated by a
“golden”-yellow band - , which are to be identified in the Bible
as well.

Fig 3: Djed column at an Egyptian

sarcophagus

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I also identified an overall impression in the winged
decorations and the sky covered with stars at a blue
background of the sky, but this is just an impression to support
the search for alerted researchers.

Fig 4: Blue and red decorations in the KHM

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Fig 5: Blue & Red at the KHM-decorations

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16
3 Medieval paintings
To research the colouring codes of the medieval paintings I just
identified a few saints and the robes for the deities as examples.
By now I already knew the paintings were following the
biblical colouring codes and not vice versa.
The following paintings clearly demonstrate the colouring code
in the garments of saints and deities, which could not be
labelled in the short period of time available for the museum's
visit:

Fig 6: Jesus Christ in a blue coat and red robe

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Fig 7: Virgin Mary in blue & rose-red garments

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 Fig 8: Saint in a blue coat and a red robe

These red & blue garments may eventually also reveal a slight
trace of white “underwear”, which cannot be explained as
religious symbolism...

19
20
4 Birds as religious Symbols
Some birds reveal a blue and red coloured combination of
feathers, which may have been considered as a religious
symbol. A special example may be the kingfisher, as displayed
on a German stamp from 1963:

Fig 9: Kingfisher on a German stamp

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In fact the colours may vary from orange to green-blue:

Fig 10: Kingfisher,

Alcedo_atthis_2_(Lukasz_Lukasik)

In this colour combination blue/orange the kingfisher has been

documented in ancient codices such as Wiener Dioskurides fol.
479 verso (dated before 512 AD)

Fig 11: Eisvogel (Wiener Dioskurid)

The Genesis page of the Wenzelbible has been decorated with

two dominant kingfishers:

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Fig 12: Kingfisher at the Genesis-page (Wenzel-bible)

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A few other birds with red & blue feathers may also be
identified at the same Genesis-page of the Wenzel-Bible:

Fig 13: Bird at the Genesis-page (Wenzel-bible)

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5 Colouring codes in the Pentateuch

Androgynous Adam in the 2nd century AD

Jeremiah ben Eleazar4, a Palestinian scholar of the 2nd century
(living a few centuries after Plato), inferred from Ps. cxxxix. 5
that Adam was created with two faces, one of a man and one
of a woman, and that God afterward cleft them asunder ('Er.
18a). In Gen. R. viii. 1 this opinion is ascribed to Samuel b.
Naḥman, while Jeremiah's opinion is stated to have been that
Adam was created a hermaphrodite5.
Jeremiah, son of Eleazar, says:

"God created Adam androgynous, but Samuel, son of

Naḥman, says, He created him 'double-faced,' then
cutting him in twain and forming two backs, one to the
one and the other to the second" 6.

The same statement is given in Moses ha-Darshan's Bereshit

Rabbati7. The difference in the interpretation is that, according
to Jeremiah's opinion,
Adam had both sexes, and was thus a real
hermaphrodite in the old mythical sense, identical with
that conception of Hermes in which he is understood to
be the "logos alethinos," the son of Maya, the bisexual
primeval man of the East.

4:
Info from the website: Jewish Encyclopedia
5:
See the entry Androgynos at the Jewish Encyclopedia
6:
see Bacher, "Ag. Pal. Amor." i. 547, iii. 585
7:
"Pugio Fidei" p. 446, Paris, 1651

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The Greek Hermaphroditus —represented by statues and on
old gems, in which representations, however, bisexuality is
scarcely indicated—has remained strange to the East and
totally unknown to the Jews.
In all the parallel passages in the Talmud, the opinion of
Samuel b. Naḥman alone prevails, for we find regularly Adam
(bifrons, double-fronted), as, for example: 'Er. 18a,
Ber. 61a, etc. 8.
The opinion expressed by Jeremiah is, however, very old and
wide-spread, for we find the fathers of the Christian Church at
pains to refute this "Jewish fable"; Augustine writes against it
in his commentary on Genesis, ad loc. ch. 22. Strabos, agreeing
with Augustine, declares this opinion to be one of the
"damnatæ Judæorum fabulæ."
Others revive the question, and Sixtus Senensis in his
"Bibliotheca Sacra" devotes to it a special chapter9. An
alchemic interpretation has been given to "Adam androgynus,"
by Guil. Menens 10.

Codings for androgynous symbolism

Existing secret atbash- and abbam-coding-systems in the Bible
suggest the use of other coding systems. One of these coding-
systems may be the colouring scheme in Exodus and
Chronicles. As these colours have been introduced by Moses
they may have been inspired by Egyptian religion.

8:
Jastrow, "Dict." s.v., p. 304, 1
9:
ed. Colon. 1586, fol. 344, 345
10:
"Aurei Velleris libri tres, Theatrum chemicum," vol. v., p. 275, Argent.,
1660

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As described in the web-manuscript: The Sky-God Dyæus the
coding schema defines the following basic symbols:

• red / scarlet / crimson = the female (= yin) symbol

• blue = the male (= yang) symbol, individually to be
used for the priests
• purple = the androgynous / joined / matrimonial symbol
• Byssus, fine linen, from Hebrew būṣ 'fine linen',
referring to fine linen and twined material
• twine = intensely joining (marriage, the matrimonial
couple)
• rainbow = divine symbol in Genesis with it's bordering
colours red and blue

The now following Biblical coding system in twining and

colouring will now be compared to the colours for the
Medieval codices, which have been applied in decorating these
books. These decorations cannot be seen as mere artistic
beauty, but clearly must be identified as religious symbols. The
real meaning of these colours cannot be denied from
correlations to the divine commands in the Pentateuch, which
will be documented in detail in the following chapter:

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Book Exodus
25: 3This is the offering which you shall take from them: gold,
silver, brass, 4blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair,
5rams’ skins dyed red, sea cow hides, acacia wood, 6oil for the
light, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense,
7onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the
breastplate.

26: “Moreover you shall make the tent with ten curtains; of
fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, with
cherubim. The work of the skillful workman you shall make
them.
4You shall make loops of blue on the edge of the one curtain
from the edge in the coupling; and likewise shall you make in
the edge of the curtain that is outmost in the second coupling.
14You shall make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed
red, and a covering of sea cow hides above.
31“You shall make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and
fine twined linen, with cherubim. The work of the skillful
workman shall it be made.
36“You shall make a screen for the door of the Tent, of blue,
and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of
the embroiderer. 37You shall make for the screen five pillars of
acacia, and overlay them with gold: their hooks shall be of
gold: and you shall cast five sockets of brass for them.

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27: 9“You shall make the court of the tent: for the south side
southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined
linen one hundred cubits long for one side: 10and the pillars of
it shall be twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks
of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver.
16For the gate of the court shall be a screen of twenty cubits, of
blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work
of the embroiderer; their pillars four, and their sockets four.
18The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, and the
breadth fifty every where, and the height five cubits, of fine
twined linen, and their sockets of brass.
28: 5They shall take the gold, and the blue, and the purple,
and the scarlet, and the fine linen. 6“They shall make the
ephod of gold, of blue, and purple, scarlet, and fine twined
linen, the work of the skilful workman. 7It shall have two
shoulder-pieces joined to the two ends of it, that it may be
joined together. 8The skilfully woven band, which is on it, that
is on him, shall be like its work and of the same piece; of gold,
of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.
15“You shall make a breastplate of judgment, the work of the
skilful workman; like the work of the ephod you shall make it;
of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined
linen, shall you make it.
28They shall bind the breastplate by the rings of it to the rings
of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be on the skillfully
woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate may not
swing out from the ephod.

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35: 5 Take from among you an offering to Yahweh. Whoever is
of a willing heart, let him bring it, Yahweh’s offering: gold,
silver, brass, 6blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair,
7rams’ skins dyed red, sea cow hides, acacia wood, 8oil for the
light, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense,
9onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the
breastplate.
23Everyone, with whom was found blue, purple, scarlet, fine
linen, goats’ hair, rams’ skins dyed red, and sea cow hides,
brought them.
25All the women who were wise-hearted spun with their hands,
and brought that which they had spun, the blue, the purple,
the scarlet, and the fine linen.
35He has filled them with wisdom of heart, to work all manner
of workmanship, of the engraver, of the skillful workman, and
of the embroiderer, in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine
linen, and of the weaver, even of those who do any
workmanship, and of those who make skillful works.

36:8All the wise-hearted men among those who did the work
made the tent with ten curtains; of fine twined linen, blue,
purple, and scarlet, with cherubim, the work of the skillful
workman, they made them.
11He made loops of blue on the edge of the one curtain from
the edge in the coupling.
35He made the veil of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined
linen: with cherubim. He made it the work of a skillful
workman.

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37He made a screen for the door of the tent, of blue, purple,
scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer;

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18The screen for the gate of the court was the work of the
embroiderer, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen.
23With him was Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of
Dan, an engraver, and a skillful workman, and an embroiderer
in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen.

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Of the blue, purple, and scarlet, they made finely worked
garments, for ministering in the holy place, and made the holy
garments for Aaron; as Yahweh commanded Moses. 2He made
the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined
linen. 3They beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires,
to work it in the blue, in the purple, in the scarlet, and in the
fine linen, the work of the skillful workman. 4They made
shoulder-pieces for it, joined together. At the two ends it was
joined together. 5The skillfully woven band that was on it, with
which to fasten it on, was of the same piece, like its work; of
gold, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen; as
Yahweh commanded Moses.
8He made the breastplate, the work of a skillful workman, like
the work of the ephod; of gold, of blue, purple, scarlet, and
fine twined linen.

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21They bound the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the
ephod with a lace of blue, that it might be on the skillfully
woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate might not
come loose from the ephod, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
22He made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue.
24They made on the skirts of the robe pomegranates of blue,
purple, scarlet, and twined linen.
27They made the coats of fine linen of woven work for Aaron,
and for his sons, 28and the turban of fine linen, and the linen
headbands of fine linen, and the linen breeches of fine twined
linen, 29and the sash of fine twined linen, and blue, and
purple, and scarlet, the work of the embroiderer, as Yahweh
commanded Moses.
30They made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and
wrote on it a writing, like the engravings of a signet: “HOLY
TO YAHWEH.” 31They tied to it a lace of blue, to fasten it on
the turban above, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

The Second Book of Chronicles

For the people of Israel the temple had been created by
Yahweh, who revealed his plans to his chosen11. Thus Yahweh
said to Moses:

"And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among

them" 12

11:
Mircea Eliade, In the Sacred and the Profane-The Nature of Religion.
12:
Exodus 15,8-9.

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And as David is handing out the plans for the temple-buildings,
the tabernacle and all the utensils to his son Solomon he
assures him that:

"all this ... the Lord made me understand in writing by his hand
upon me" 13.

And Solomon confirms to YHWH:

"Thou hast commanded me to build a temple upon Thy holy

mount, and an altar in the city wherein Thou dwellest, a
resemblance of the holy tabernacle which Thou hast prepared
from the beginning" 14.

Although the Covenant Tent and the Temple reveal a

completely different character it may be noted that God's
prescription for the colouring code remains identical to both
David and Solomon. The Second Book of Chronicles reports:

27Now therefore send me a man skilful to work in gold, and in

silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson,
and blue, and who knows how to engrave all manner of
engravings, to be with the skilful men who are with me in
Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father did provide.

13:
II Chronicles, 28, 19
14:
Wisdom of Solomon, 9, 8

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313Now I have sent a skillful man, endowed with
understanding, of Huram my father’s, 14the son of a woman of
the daughters of Dan; and his father was a man of Tyre, skillful
to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in
timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson,
also to engrave any manner of engraving, and to devise any
device; that there may be a place appointed to him with your
skillful men, and with the skillful men of my lord David your
father.

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6 Early Hebrew Bibles
At the National Library an early Hebrew Tora, Haftarot,
Megilot from France, dated 1348 is being commented by the
famous rabbi Solomon ben Isaac (“Rashi”, 1040-1105), who
clearly formulated an androgynous Genesis with a symmetrical
split up for the male and female halves in an androgynous first
being Adam.
Previously the following legend has been documented in the
sources 15 which have already been published in the chapter
Rashi's and Rashbam's Genesis in Dyaeus.

Rashi's Genesis
“God as Judge, alone without the angels, created the
human being, by hand, in a mold which was like the
mold with which a seal is made or like the die from
which a coin is produced, and which had been specially
crafted for the human being. In a mold which was a
hologram image of God, God created the human being.
One being which was both male and female and which
was subsequently divided into two beings, God created
them” 16 .

This clearly indicates the medieval monks were still discussing

the idea of androgynous creations and may have modelled the
symbolism in the decoration's colours for the copied Bibles.

15:
as found in the book “Ancient Genesis: The Mystery of Evolution and
God” by Ami Blackwelder.
16:
Rabbi Rashi 1040-1105, northern Europe (chapter 27)

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In fact rabbi Rashi may have been the main carrier for
androgynous symbolism in medieval ages. He may also have
influenced the androgynous creation legend in the Kabbalistic
book Zohar.

The Zohar
The Zohar17 is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish
mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a commentary on
the mystical aspects of the Torah18, written in medieval
Aramaic. The Zohar is a group of books including scriptural
interpretations as well as material on theosophic theology,
mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology. The Zohar first
appeared in Spain in the 13th century, and was published by a
Jewish writer named Moses de Leon.

17:
Hebrew: ‫זהר‬, lit Splendor or Radiance
18:
the five books of Moses

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7 colour Codings in the medieval
Bibles

Categorizing Bibles
The colour codings in the medieval Bibles may be discerned
and categorized in several ways. In order to statistically analyse
the great number of codices available the Austrian National
Library I decided to study the book “Die prächtigsten
Bibeln19”.
The most expensive codices used a vellum made of sheepskin
coloured in purple and written with sparkling golden and silver
or white ink. The purple colour had been a divine symbol,
which had also been reserved by Roman emperors, who of
course had promoted themselves to deities.
Normal codices had to be written in brown or black inks.
Special topics used to be highlighted in gold, or in a
replacement yellow colours made from arsenic sulfides.
Most of the coloured manuscripts were using red and blue for
decorations. These decorations however may very well be
referring to special religious symbols, which may become clear
in the followings chapters. The following categorisation may
apply in the study of colouring aspects:
• expensive codices (in purple, gold, silver and white)
• red and blue coloured codices
• non red and blue coloured codices (the Rado-Bible)
• non coloured codices (simpler manuscripts)
19:
Die prächtigsten Bibeln by Andreas Fingernagel –
published 2008, ISBN: 978-3-8365-0297-6

37
As already described in the specified previous books the
overwhelming application of the colours red and blue seems to
be referring to the previously described relevant colouring
codes in the texts of the Pentateuch and/or androgynous
symbolism as documented in the web-manuscript: The Sky-
God Dyæus. An overview of other details referring to the
symbolism in the colouring codes of red, blue and purple may
be found in: The Fundamental colour Symbols Blue and Red.

38
The Rado-Bible
As far as I see there is one exception to standard colouring
scheme. The Rado-Bible or Carolingial Bible created around
850 AD20 is using another scheme by applying green, red and
yellow in their initial lettering symbols. Obviously the monks
who created this early codex did not know or follow the
colouring standards, which have been applied in later years.

Fig 14: Initials in the Rado-Bible

20:
Northern France

39
Red & blue Initials
Most of the biblical codices have been copied from earlier
manuscripts and they seem to have followed strict rules in
depicting the biblical symbolism.

Fig 15: Initials to St. Paul's letter to

Philemon
An early codex is named the Bolognese Bible with ornamental
initials referring to St. Paul's letter to Philemon:

40
In fact the colours red and blue prevail in this page at the
initials, in the heading line at the topside of the pages and in the
decorations at the side of the pages.

Heading lines
Generally the heading lines are seen to alternate blue and red
letters. Although most lines start with a red letter the system
does not seem to select a special colour for the very beginning
of the headlines as may be observed in an overview of header-
lines,

Fig 16: Genesis headline in Neapolitan Bible

Fig 17: Genesis headline in Neapolitan Bible

41
Fig 18: Headerline in the Bolognese Bible (1240)

Fig 19: Book “Jonas” in Ulrich Schreier Bible

(1472)

Fig 20: Headerline Genesis in the Kremser Bible

Fig 21: Headerline Lucas

42
 Fig 22: Headerline Paris-Bible

Numbering lines
The numbering system will also follow the same colouring
system as the header lines, e.g. the following number (for line
#49) of Genesis in the Neapolitan Bible:

Fig 23: Numbering lines in the Neapolitan Bible

(1360)

Line 17 starts with a blue letter and line 18 with a red letter. In
contrast both Line #49 and #50 start with a red letter.

43
 Fig 24: Genesis-line in the Korczek-Bible (1400)

Initial lines
Obviously the initial lines are following the same colouring
code in alternating red and blue letters:

Fig 25: Initial line for the Kremser Bible (1333)

44
 Fig 26: Initial line for the Kremser Genesis

These lines start with an initial letter which combines several

colours, including red and blue letters.
Some codices are applying alternating red and blue letters for
long texts covering a number of lines:

Fig 27: Initial Ancient History (14th Century)

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As a remarkable fact God's image21 also combines a red and
blue garment.

Fig 28: Initials for the Kremser

Bible (1333)

21:
while giving the blessings

46
 Fig 29: Initials for the Kremser Bible
(1333)

Initial for the letter L = Liber Generationis including a number

of blue and red and yellow (golden) decorations.

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The Utrechter “historical” Bible22 from Evert van Soudenbalch
(in Dutch language) does contain a great number of initials
combining blue and red colouring codes in singular letters:

Fig 30: Utrechter Bible (1460)

22:
Codex 2772, fol. 198v (III Maccabeorum = Josephus Flavius,
Antiquitates XIII-XVI)

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Genealogical trees

Fig 31: Genealogical trees

Although these figures cannot be understood they certainly

apply a colouring code including red and blue.

49
Fig 32: Trinity God in purple, blue, red and white

50
Background colours
Alternating red and blue backgrounds in the Bible (Goslarer
Evangeliar, ca. 1240 AD) may also be referring to androgynous
symbolism in the Bible:

Fig 33: Background, Goslar Evangelium, ca. 1240 AD

Even in the poor people's Bible23 the alternating red & blue
initials are referring to the androgynous symbolism in religion:

23:
Biblia pauperum in the Codex Palatinus Latinus 871 (14th century) -
Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana

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52
8 The divine garments

Garments for the Creator God

The Creator God will often wear red and blue colour
combinations in either the garments or the head's decorations24.
Additionally yellow is used to indicate gold as a precious
symbol.

24:
Codex 1179, fol. 1v (Genesis)

53
Please note the upper line in alternating blue and red letters
illustrating the Creator God in “Bibles moralisées” (dated
1275)

54
Garments for Jesus Christ
Also the garments for Jesus Christ will often apply red and
blue or purple combinations as seen in the following example
from “Speculum Humanae Salvationis” (dated 1336):

55
Creation of Adam and resolving Eve
Most of the creation phases depict a full-grown and adult Eve,
which is being resolved from the backside (in fact the correct
translation for the back-side) of the androgynous Adam.

The Creator often wears either a purple or white garment or is

dressed in a red and blue combination. We will depict a few of
these creation phases:

56
The Trinity God25 is being depicted in a white garment
including a red sleeve with the winged Holy Spirit at the
backside. This Trinity symbolism has been clearly identified
form the next detailed figure:

25:
From the Neapolitanic Bible (1360)

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The following creation phase depicts a God in a purple garment
with a golden sleeve in the Utrechter Bible (1460) as created
by Evert van Soudenbalch26, who may have been suggesting
Eve is pregnant with her first child (?)

26:
Codex 2771, fol. 10r (Genesis)

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The Wenzel Bible (1389/1395)

In the Wenzel Bible the Creator God is wearing garments

combining red and blue colours.

59
In the book Genesis the Wenzel Bible depicts a Creator God
resolving an adult Eve from Adam.

60
The Eberler Bible (1464)
The Eberler Bible depicts a Creator God in a purple garment
resolving an adult Eve from the side of a sleeping Adam.

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 Fig 44: Creation legend in the Korczek Bible (1400)

The following table lists an overview of the (15) main

illustrated codices available at the KHM in Vienna. Except for
the Rado-Bible these manuscripts will always apply some
combinations of red and blue, which will be found in the
header-lines, in the initials, in the garments and in the other
decorations.

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 Codex Year Main colours colours in Divine
headers and garments
initials
Vienna 550 red/blue/white - red/blue/
white
Rado 875 Yellow/red/ Yellow/red/ -
green green
Paris 1250 red/blue red & blue red/blue
Admont 1150 red/blue/green red red/blue
Lilienfeld 1225 red/blue/green red & blue red/green
Krems 1275 red/blue red & blue red/blue
Wenzel 1390 red/blue/gold red/blue/gold red/blue
Korczek 1400 purple/green/ red & blue purple
gold
Neapel 1360 red/blue red & blue white
Eberler 1464 red/blue/green red red/blue/
green
Schreier 1472 red/blue/green red & blue red/purple/
green
Utrecht 1430 red/blue/gold red ; initials in purple
red & blue
Hiero- 1488 red/blue/gold red & blue red/blue
nymos
Utrecht 1460 red/blue/green red ; initials in purple
red & blue
Paris 1225 red/blue/gold red/blue
27
Dante 1308 red/blue/gold red/blue red/blue

Table 1: Categorisation of medieval Bibles

27:
Vatican Codex of La Divina Commedia (approximately 1308)

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9 Identification of colouring symbols
Although there a written proof seems to be missing, red and
blue are to be considered as religious symbols.
Obviously the colours may be related to the sun and the moon,
which are known as religious elements representing male and
female attributes. These symbols have been observed in the
biblical decorations as well.
The sun and moon will always be identified by opposite
genders,
The Mediterranean peoples identified a male sun (“Sol”)
accompanied by a female moon (“Luna”). In Egyptian
traditional colourings the male sun has usually been displayed
by a red circle (and only in seldom cases by a yellow disc),
whereas the female moon is being attributed by blue light.
At the northern side of the Alps the genders are reversed. In
German language the sun is female and the moon is a male
symbol. The medieval Bibles seem to depict the male moon as
a blue object, which will also refer to the blue colourings for
the warriors' faces as documented by Julius Caesar in “De
Bello Gallico”.
This leaves the identification for the male and female symbols
open. There may be a clear distinction in gender symbolism
between red and blue, but we cannot be sure which gender is to
be attributed to the basic colours. As fas as I can see red seems
to have been male in southern areas (e.g. Egypt) whereas red
may have been female in northern areas (e.g. Germany). Of
course the blue colours will always refer to the opposite
gender, whereas purple is a divine mixture of red and blue.

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66
10 Modern androgynous symbolism

The Albertina museum exposed a lithographic painting28 name

David & Bethsabée created by Marc Chagall in 1956.
28:
Marc Chagall (1887-1985)

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Marc Chagall (1887-1985) clearly used the symbolic colours
red and blue to identify the female and male person. However
it remains unclear whether red is a female and blue is a male
symbol. According to the arrangement in the painting Chagall
probably applied the red colour to represent male symbolism
and blue to represent the female symbolism.
The following contribution of an androgynous face has been
created 2003 by the author for an exhibition.

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The Russian tri-colour Banner
They’re waving the red, white and blue over in Russia today,
though not necessarily in that order. The white-blue-red
Russian tri-colour flag dates back to the 1660s when Czar
Alexei Mikhailovich ordered ships to fly a similar banner for
identification. Historians speculate it may have been inspired
by the Dutch flag, the oldest remaining tri-colour national flag,
but both tri-colours may have a common religious base.
In the 1880s Czar Alexander III declared the tri-color flag the
official flag of Russia. After the October Revolution of 1917,
the tri-colour was replaced by the red Soviet hammer-and-
sickle flag. This banner however did not survive the period of
time for the Soviet Union. At Russia's independence from the
Soviet Union the Russian legislature chose to fly Russia’s
historic tri-color flag instead of the hammer-and-sickle flag of
the Soviet Union. It was only a piece of cloth, but the symbolic
gesture of raising the pre-Soviet flag definitely symbolized the
end of the Soviet Union.

Other modern Banners

As suggested in the book Dyaeus several banners (for the
Netherlands, France's tricoloure, the British Union Jack and the
American Stars & Stripes) which are applying red, white &
blue may have been based on the biblical symbolism as
documented in this report.

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70
11 Conclusion
To me this report does not leave any doubt in the discussion of
androgynous symbolism in the ancient colouring codes for
purple, red & blue. Unclarity remains at the exact gender-
definition for the male and female symbols.
The colouring codes for the garments in ancient oil paintings
seems to be following the wealthy decorations in the medieval
codices, which mainly consist of Bibles. From the intensity of
the decorations we probably may identify the book Genesis as
the most important part of the Bible to the medieval religious
leaders29. The most important identifying religious symbols are
the colours red and blue, probably symbolizing the
androgynous elements in ancient religions.
The biblical decorations clearly follow the divine commands as
stated in the book Exodus for the garments of the earliest
Jewish Covenant-sanctuaries.
Another uncertainty is the missing link between the earliest
Bibles and the medieval codices as indicated by the Rado-
bible, which lacks any reference to the red and blue symbolism.
Early Hebrew Bibles are being commented by the famous rabbi
Solomon ben Isaac (“Rashi”, 1040-1105), who clearly
formulated an androgynous Genesis with a symmetrical split
up for the male and female halves in an androgynous first
being Adam.

29:
The colouring system cannot have been chosen by the copying monks
themselves and probably has been defined by the leading management of
the medieval Church.

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This manuscript Dyaeus II has been composed to be integrated
in the former book Dyaeus, but will be published as an
individual book itself.

72