Artworks

This is a wonderful Parisian Bible, embodying the spirit of innovation during the Golden Age of patronage brought upon by Queen Blanche of Castile and her son Louis IX. The elegant manuscript was illuminated at the royal court and is decorated with 79 large historiated initials and 82 decorated initials. 

One of the most enduring inventions of the 13th century was the one-volume Latin Bible, which contained all Bible texts in a single portable volume with a standardised order. Most 13th-century Parisian Bibles were small, to fit into the bags of traveling clerics. In contrast, the present volume with its large format and luxurious decoration was made on commission for a patron or patroness who wanted to display the manuscript presumably on a lectern, either for private use or in a community. The biblical narratives of this heyday of didactic text production were appreciated by their noble commissioners. This resulted in some uncommon iconography in this manuscript, for instance, in the subjects chosen to illustrate the Epistles of Paul or in the royal symbolism added to several images.

The images in the present Bible have all the features of the Royal Psalter workshop as defined by Robert Branner in his ground-breaking study of Parisian illumination at the time of St. Louis. He attributed some eight manuscripts to this workshop active between c 1250-1270. Yet, the opening leaf received new border decoration in the 15th century. It shows that the book was still in France at that time, clearly appreciated for its texts and extremely fine illumination.

The precious and sumptuous decoration in this grand Bible reflects great coherence. The painted infills of the decorated letters and their extensions consist of delicate interlacing foliage, or of tails and necks of animals. The historiated initials include magnificent, elegant figures, often in architectural settings. Be it dragons, grotesques, or humans, all figures are slender, graceful, and of noble, elegant posture. Overall, the compositions are highly expressive and betray the finest artistic and technical ingenuity. The manuscript’s original patron is unknown, but the frequent occurrence of small fleurs-de-lys that top staffs and sceptres may be a clue. 

With its refined illuminations and royal origin, the volume at hand is an important artistic document which is testament to one of the heydays of Parisian book art.

See this fantastic manuscript in our 2021 publication, Collecting Culture.  

Read more about this manuscript in our blog post, An Astonishingly Fine Bible.