Casa Rex redesigns the Medieval illuminated Bible for the 21st Century

Brazilian studio Casa Rex’s beautiful book project, Mateus, Marcos, Lucas e João, may be aesthetically gorgeous, but it’s something of a risky proposition. The book takes the idea of the Biblical saviour and transposes it into the 21st Century, by replacing the idea of Christ as saviour with cellulite cream as saviour.

The book’s luxuriance manifests itself inside out and out, featuring a bejewelled cover with each gem glued on by hand. Casa Rex head Gustavo Piqueira describes the tome as “a satirical, yet concise portrait of our era,” taking the idea of the illuminated Medieval bible and redesigning it for today. As such, the book takes the opulent, intricate design cues of the Medieval designs, but the narrative is one of office work, traffic jams, fast food, weapons and mobile phones.

“I used the structure and the characters of the four Gospels, but to tell a quite different story – not of Christ, but about something that people crave in today’s world as “salvation”: a miraculous cosmetic, a anti-cellulite cream,” says Gustavo. “There is an evident critique on hyperconsumerism and overvaluation of appearances, the superficial, in our times. It is a bit depressing that most people dream of a ‘salvation’ as small as ‘looking younger’.”

While it’s a concept that might not sit too well with many – after all, we all know cellulite cream is a con – we reckon there’s little doubt on just how beautiful it looks, gems and all. Gustavo says: “It was important that the final product would cause the same reaction from a medieval Bible: not to invite the reader to handle it, but the opposite: to intimidate him from touching the object.”