A Father’s Masterpiece

Our family joining hundreds of others to hold the Folding Bible

A son, grieving the loss of his father, began the arduous task of cleaning out his father’s German home and art studio. His tiny home was crammed with the treasures of his craft – paints, brushes, canvases, and books. Willy Wiedmann developed a style of art called polycon, a unique flowing art form with straight lines and sharp angles using vibrant colors woven together to tell a story. His son always admired his father’s work and appreciated his contribution to the art world, but he was not prepared for the discovery of his father’s masterpiece in the attic – the entire Bible painted in his iconic polycon style.  The pages for each book of the Bible were folded in an accordion fashion and then individually bound. His son, overwhelmed by the beauty of the Biblical artwork, shared the collection with the Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C. Understanding the rare treasure in their possession, the museum curators created a special exhibition to showcase the work.

One-of-a-kind Bible is over a mile long

Recently, our family traveled to the nation’s capital to visit the museum and had the opportunity to participate in the unfolding of this one-of-a-kind Bible. Each of the Bible books had been connected together and loaded on a specially designed cart. Hundreds of volunteers were arranged around the Lincoln reflecting pond at the National Mall as the organizers slowly pushed the cart, unfolding the illustrated Bible as it was distributed to the waiting volunteers.  All stretched out, the Wiedmann Illustrated Bible is over a mile long.

All of the participants were trying to pinpoint the section of the Scripture they were holding. Because of the unique and somewhat abstract style, it was hard to say, especially without the ability to see the whole context of what was in our hands. Across the reflecting pond, we could see the mixture of colors the artist used, vibrant colors mixed with deep dark tones. We were grateful the museum had a team in place to answer our questions. It turns out that the vibrant rainbow of colors represented the garden and Psalms. The bright light colors expressed the work of the Holy Spirit, while the deep, dark tones indicated sin and pain. Collectively, it was absolutely striking! Not one section could be eliminated; each panel was necessary to tell the beautiful and complete story.

It was a magnificent story of a son revealing his father’s work.

It took over an hour to unfold all of the pages of this unique work of art. However, when the last panel was given out, there were loud shouts of victory. We had remained to see the whole project completed. Wiedmann’s son was present at this historic event in Washington D.C. to see his father’s artwork shared. It was a magnificent story of a son revealing his father’s work.

But more than that, seeing the illustrated Bible fully unfolded gives us a glimpse of our heavenly Father’s view. It is the whole story of redemption – the light and happy events of life interwoven with the deeply painful moments, unfolded to reveal His complete story of redemption in our lives. Our stories remain incomplete until the Son reveals His masterpiece in our lives.

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:10