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Glazier-Rylands Bible
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Glazier-Rylands Bible
- Object:
Manuscript
- Place of origin:
Hainaut, Belgium (possibly, illuminated)
- Date:
ca. 1260-1270 (illuminated)
- Artist/Maker:
Unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Water-based pigments, gold leaf and ink on parchment
- Museum number:
8986E
- Gallery location:
Prints & Drawings Study Room, level E, case I, shelf 81, box V
This leaf is from a large Bible that was made in several volumes. Now known as the Glazier-Rylands Bible, its format shows that it was designed to be read on a lectern. It would have been made for a religious community rather than for a scholar.
The illumination is of a high quality and was probably the work of itinerant illuminators. Where exactly this Bible was made has been disputed. Experts have suggested Cambrai, as well as Tournai and the county of Hainaut in France. But it is difficult to pinpoint a particular area, as travelling artists were brought together for specific commissions in different places.
In expensive bibles such as this one, historiated initials (decorated with a figurative scene) at important breaks in the text were normal. The scenes were often standard ones for particular parts of the text and would be instantly recognisable to the reader. The initial F on this page shows Hannah kneeling at an altar and Eli with a gold censor. It introduces the First Book of Kings of the Old Testament which begins with Samuel, Hannah’s son.
This Bible is now held in several locations. They include the Glazier Collection in the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, and the John Rylands University Library in Manchester.
In illuminated manuscripts, there was usually a hierarchy of initials marking important divisions in the text. These were at this time added by specialist illuminators and rubricators, in spaces left blank by the scribe. The more important initials might be historiated with a figurative picture (istoire being the term for a story), or decorated. In expensive Bibles such as this one, historiated initials at important breaks in the text were normal. The scenes in these initials were often standard ones for particular parts of the text and would be instantly recognisable to the reader. The initial F on this page shows Hannah kneeling at an Altar and Eli with a gold censor and introduces the First Book of Kings, which begins with Samuel. Samuel anointed the first two kings of Israel, Saul and David. A son of Elkanah and Hannah, he was the 15th and last Judge of Israel and a prophet. His childless mother Hannah had made a vow to God that in return for a son she would give him over to the care of the high priest.
At this time such initials had antennae that reached into the margins, on which humorous or fantasy creatures played. They often featured elongated dragons, or grotesque heads grasping the initials between their teeth. Hybrid creatures made up of two different animals or with animal bodies and human faces were also common. Images in the margins depicted a world outside the edges of normality; sometimes the imagery acted as metaphor, and sometimes it reversed the message of the other illumination on the page. Although it seems spontaneous, there is evidence to show that even marginal imagery followed patterns. In northern France, Flanders and England, these images were especially popular towards the end of the thirteenth century, and their style was sometimes very naturalistic.
This Bible is now scattered between several repositories. They include the Glazier Collection in the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York and the John Rylands University Library in Manchester.
