Illuminated Medieval Bible Page
Illuminated Medieval Bible Page
Illuminated Medieval Bible Page

Illuminated Medieval Bible Page

£ 860.00

A beautifully illuminated leaf from a Latin Bible of the Old and New Testament, carefully calligraphed and ornamented in Paris, France, at the beginning of the 13th Century. The leaf is composed of two columns of 44 lines, ruled in dark ink. The text is a fine example of the popular Medieval and Renaissance gothic book-hand script, used extensively for French vernacular books, known as lettre bâtarde. The leaf is executed in red, white, green and blue tempera, gold and liquid gold on both sides. The recto features a finely illuminated initial, forming graceful scrolls which twist into sprays of foliage within its body.

Date: Circa early 13th century AD
Condition: Extremely fine.
Product Code: MS-02
Category: Tags: , ,

This leaf is of an extraordinary interest considering also the annotations and comments added to the margin of the text. These comments are known as glosses, from the Greek word glossa, meaning “language”. The use of commenting, by explanatory notes, difficult and antiquated words, spread during the Middle Ages: of this period there are numerous manuscripts bearing annotations, both above the word to be explained (interlinear glosses) and in the marginal space (marginal glosses).

To discover more about Medieval manuscripts, please visit our relevant blog post: A Brief History of Manuscripts.
Dimensions L 16 x W 11 cm
Region

Western Europe
Material

Vellum

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