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Secondary sourceBook1741

Quinquagena symbolica

Chrysostomus Hanthaler · 1741

An 18th-century emblem book by Chrysostomus Hanthaler that illustrates the chapters of Benedict's Rule with symbolic engravings for teaching monks.

This book reinterprets Benedict's own Rule for monks through symbolic engravings, showing its lasting influence.

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Cover of a book with a reddish-orange and gold patterned binding. The design shows stylized flowers, leaves, tendrils and urn-like motifs printed in red over a textured golden ground, with some stains and wear.
Chrysostomus Hanthaler, Quinquagena symbolica, 1741.

About this source

What it is

This is an emblem book written by Chrysostomus Hanthaler, with engravings by Johann Christoph Winkler, published in the 1740s. It presents the main points and teachings of the sacred Rule of Benedict through symbolic images meant to instruct monks.

Why it matters

Centuries after Benedict wrote his Rule for monastic life, scholars and monks were still creating new ways to teach and explain it. This book shows how Benedict's writings continued to shape religious education long after his death, adapted into the visual and literary styles of a much later period.

Look closer

  • Why might someone turn written rules into symbolic pictures instead of just text?
  • What does the survival of this book tell you about how important Benedict's Rule remained over time?
  • What might be lost or changed when a rule from one era is reinterpreted through images from a much later one?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Saint Benedict on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Open pages of a medieval Latin manuscript on aged parchment, with handwritten black text in columns, red initials and rubrics, and a large decorated illuminated initial on the left page. The text appears to be a copy of a monastic rule.Book

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