2025Easter - The Sacral Motifs of Historical Manuscripts from the Public Library of Johannes Bocatius in Kosice - First Day Cover

The Johannes Bocatius Public Library in Košice, which centenary was celebrated last year, has a rich collection of old prints from the 18th and 19th centuries. It also includes religious literature, such as prayer books, hymnals, catechisms, sermons and hagiographies. The iconographic motif of the Pieta, that depicts the Virgin Mary holding the martyred Jesus in her arms, was based on a gracious image from the monastery of Poor Clares in Bratislava. The woodcut illustration is part of “the Raga Rose” prayer book, beautified by devotional Prayers to Wondrous and Miraculous Images of the Virgin Mary. In 1846, the book was issued in Slovak in Levoča by the printing press of Johann Werthmüller and son.