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Manuscript Cutting

ca. 1260-1270 (illuminated)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This leaf comes from the large Glazier-Rylands Bible, which has several volumes. It was made for a religious community rather than for a scholar. Its format shows that it was designed to lie on a lectern (a reading desk) to be read. The illumination is of a high quality. It was probably the work of itinerant illuminators whose work can be found in manuscripts produced in other centres.

We do not know for certain where exactly the Glazier-Rylands Bible was made. Cambrai has been proposed, as well as Tournai and the county of Hainaut, France. One of the problems is that it is difficult to locate a notional workshop in a specific area, because at that time travelling artists were brought together for special commissions in different places. At least three illuminators who worked on the Bible moved on to Liège in the Southern Netherlands. There they contributed to a magnificent Psalter (a service book containing the Psalms), which we think introduced an up-to-date High Gothic style from France to that area.

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. The leaves from the Bible now in the V&A were acquired from the dealer and scholar W. H. James Weale in 1883. This leaf depicts Solomon addressing a group of Jews.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Water-based pigments, gilding and ink on parchment
Brief description
Page from Glazier-Rylands Bible (I Chroniclese) with historiated initial A (Solomon addressing a group of Jews); Low Countries (Hainaut); ca 1260-1270. A duplicate number MS.701 was assigned to this object in error and was subsequently cancelled.
Physical description
Leaf from the Glazier-Rylands Bible (Solomon addressing a group of Jews)
Dimensions
  • Height: 375mm
  • Width: 255mm
Object history
From a multi-volume bible.
Part of cuttings purchased in batches from William Henry James Weale in 1883, 95 on 9 April 1883, 258 on 17 April 1883, 20 on 20 February, for the total sum of £96.7.2 (now Museum nos 8972-9042.
Cuttings from the same set of manuscripts in the V&A collection: Museum nos. 8986A, 8986B, 8986C, 8986D, 8986E, 8987A, 8987B, 8987C, 8987D.
Cuttings from the same set of manuscripts in other collections: Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale de Belgique, ms. II.1339 (3 leaves); Cleveland, Cleveland Museum of Art, acc. 52.565 (1 leaf), Manchester, John Rylands Library, ms. 16) (240 leaves); New York, Morgan Library and Museum, MS G.64 (6 leaves).
Historical context
Data taken from notes compiled by Rowan Watson. The full text of the entry is as follows:

(text also refers to 8986: A to E, 8987: A to D):

"Cat. THE "GLAZIER - RYLANDS BIBLE (8986 A-E; 8987 A-D)

The leaves are from a large multi-volume Bible decorated by a number of illuminators. The Bible is now split up and kept in nine different collections. Judith Oliver relates the work to a group of MSS produced in the area around Lille, Arras and Cambrai in northern France; she identifies the workshop, from which "three artists...migrated east into the diocese of Liège, where they illuminated BN lat. 1077 and Brussels IV-1066"

France (Liège-Arras area) c. 1260-1270

Oliver, 1988, I, 148-153, 161, 170, II, 288, 292, plates 159-160"

Individual item text

'229.7
8987 C
BIBLE (I Chronicles)


Bought from Weale, 1883
1923 cat, 58; Oliver 1988, I, 149'
Subjects depicted
Literary referenceThe Bible (I Chronicles)
Summary
This leaf comes from the large Glazier-Rylands Bible, which has several volumes. It was made for a religious community rather than for a scholar. Its format shows that it was designed to lie on a lectern (a reading desk) to be read. The illumination is of a high quality. It was probably the work of itinerant illuminators whose work can be found in manuscripts produced in other centres.

We do not know for certain where exactly the Glazier-Rylands Bible was made. Cambrai has been proposed, as well as Tournai and the county of Hainaut, France. One of the problems is that it is difficult to locate a notional workshop in a specific area, because at that time travelling artists were brought together for special commissions in different places. At least three illuminators who worked on the Bible moved on to Liège in the Southern Netherlands. There they contributed to a magnificent Psalter (a service book containing the Psalms), which we think introduced an up-to-date High Gothic style from France to that area.

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. The leaves from the Bible now in the V&A were acquired from the dealer and scholar W. H. James Weale in 1883. This leaf depicts Solomon addressing a group of Jews.
Bibliographic references
  • Catalogue of illuminated manuscripts : Part II, Miniatures, leaves, and cuttings, by S.C. Cockerell and E.F. Strange (London: HMSO, 1908, 1st edition). p. 65.
  • Catalogue of Miniatures, Leaves, and Cuttings from Illuminated Manuscripts. Victoria and Albert Museum. Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design, by S.C. Cockerell and C. Harcourt Smith (London: HMSO, 1923, 2nd edition). p. 58.
  • Judith Oliver, Gothic manuscript illumination in the diocese of Liège (c. 1250-c. 1330), Leuven: Peeters, 1988. vol. I, pp. 148-153, 161, 170, vol. II, 288, 292, plates 159-160.
  • Watson, R. Illuminated manuscripts and their makers. An account based on the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum. London, 2003. pp. 82-83.
Collection
Accession number
8987C

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Record createdDecember 12, 2003
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