07 April 2023
Picturing the Crucifixion
This Good Friday, we have gathered a selection of illustrations of the Crucifixion from some of the most beautiful illuminated manuscripts in our collections, dating from as early as the 11th century up to the end of the Middle Ages.
The Sherborne Missal
The Sherborne Missal is one of the masterpieces of English book production in the 15th century, a gigantic volume with nearly every page decorated with elaborate borders and historiated initials in colours and gold. The manuscript is a service book containing all the texts required for the celebration of Mass on the different feasts, holidays and saints’ days throughout the year, made for the Benedictine abbey of St Mary in Sherborne, between approximately 1399 and 1407. The single full-page illustration in the manuscript is a depiction of the Crucifixion that introduces the Canon of the Mass. Christ is shown on the Cross, flanked by the two thieves, with the Virgin Mary fainting at its foot. Beside her appear the figures of St John and Mary Magdalene, while a crowd of mounted onlookers in contemporary dress gather behind the three crosses. The illustration is accompanied by portraits of the Four Evangelists writing in the corners of the frame, and a series of roundels containing depictions of related episodes from the Old Testament.
Read our previous blogpost on the digitisation of the Sherborne Missal here!
The Sherborne Missal, c. 1399-1407: Add MS 74236, p. 380
The De Brailes Hours
Depictions of the Crucifixion commonly feature within Books of Hours, prayerbooks that were hugely popular among lay people during the Middle Ages, allowing them to develop and observe their own routines of personal devotion throughout the day. Named after its designer and painter William de Brailes (active c. 1230–c. 1260), this small, portable volume (measuring only 150 x 125 mm) is the earliest known surviving English Book of Hours, made in Oxford around 1240. Its Crucifixion scene appears at the beginning of the section called None, referring to the ‘Ninth Hour’ of the day, and is divided into three sections, showing Christ on the Cross between the two thieves, Christ before the Virgin Mary and St John, and Longinus piercing Christ’s side.
Book of Hours (‘The De Brailes Hours’), c. 1240: Add MS 49999, f. 47v
The Holkham Bible Picture Book
The Holkham Bible Picture Book is a unique copy of the Bible that was made in London in the early 14th century. Rather than focusing on the Scriptural text, this manuscript is composed principally of over 230 vivid illustrations depicting scenes from the Old and New Testaments, with accompanying captions of varying length, mostly written in Anglo-Norman French. The Passion sequence is depicted over a series of folios towards the end of the manuscript. On this opening, Christ is nailed to the Cross and his garments divided among the Roman soldiers, while the Roman governor Pontius Pilate is shown writing the sign that will be displayed above Christ’s head. The Crucifixion is shown on the opposing page. Scrolls issue from the mouths of figures within the scene, indicating portions of speech. At the foot of the Cross, a cluster of bones and skulls have been painted, reflecting the name Golgotha (literally ‘Skull’ in Aramaic), the site of the Crucifixion in ancient Jerusalem.
The Holkham Bible Picture Book, c. 1327-1335: Add MS 47682, ff. 31v–32r
The Biblia Pauperum
Another unique type of illuminated picture Bible is this Biblia Pauperum (or Bible of the Poor), made in the Northern Netherlands around the turn of the 15th century. It features a series of images of the life of Christ painted in colours and gold, accompanied by images of episodes from the Old Testament that were thought to prefigure it. Here, for example, the Crucifixion appears in the centre of the page, with a depiction of the Binding of Isaac, son of Abraham, from the Book of Genesis, on the left, and Moses lifting up the bronze serpent on the right, from the Book of Exodus.
Biblia Pauperum, c. 1405: Kings MS 5, f. 17r
The Tiberius Psalter
The Crucifixion often appeared as part of prefatory cycles of images at the beginnings of Psalters (Book of Psalms). The Tiberius Psalter is one of the earliest surviving English examples, made in Winchester in the 3rd quarter of the 11th century. Its sequence of drawings, outlined in blue, red and green, depicts episodes from the lives of David and Christ, with an especial focus on the Passion. In the Tiberius Psalter’s depiction of the Crucifixion, Christ is shown on the Cross, with the Roman soldier Longinus piercing his side with a spear, and another holding to his mouth a sponge soaked in vinegar.
The Tiberius Psalter, 3rd quarter of the 11th century–2nd half of the 12th century: Cotton MS Tiberius C VI, f. 13r
The Monte Cassino Exultet Roll
The medieval churches of Southern Italy celebrated the Easter Vigil of Holy Saturday from rolls designed to be used once a year for this specific ritual. The Exultet is a lyrical prayer, named after its opening words (‘Exultet iam angelica turba caelorum’), which is chanted during the ceremonial lighting of the Paschal candle during the Easter vigil. The British Library’s Exultet roll (Add MS 30337) was made at the Benedictine abbey of Monte Cassino around 1075–1080 and features numerous illustrations, including a depiction of the Crucifixion that appears at the centre of the sixth membrane. Notably, the image is displayed upside-down upon the roll. This is because the deacon given the responsibility of reading the prayer would turn the top of the roll over so that it draped in front of the church’s ambo (a raised platform for liturgical readings) and display the images to the congregation the right way up. You can read our previous blogpost on this incredible item and the special way it was used in the performance of the Exultet.
The Monte Cassino Exultet Roll, c. 1075–1080: Add MS 30337, membrane 6
We wish our readers a peaceful and Happy Easter!
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31 March 2023
A Tudor autograph book
The British Library is home to hundreds of beautiful illuminated Books of Hours, prayerbooks that were hugely popular during the medieval and early modern eras, as they allowed lay people to develop and observe their own routines of personal devotion. These Books of Hours also provide us with significant insights into the lives of their patrons and owners, who often inscribed these manuscripts with their own beliefs, thoughts and recollections, details of significant events in their lives, and interactions with their most intimate circles of friends and family.
One such Book of Hours (Add MS 17012) stands out for the additions made for one of its female owners. Originally written and illuminated in Antwerp around the year 1500, it subsequently came to London, where it belonged to a prominent woman at the early Tudor court. The volume’s female owner used it not simply as her own personal prayerbook and set of devotions, but also as an autograph book, in which she collected signatures and expressions of favour from numerous members of the court, and even the Tudor royal family. The manuscript has recently been digitised as part of our Medieval and Renaissance Women project and is now available online, thanks to generous funding from Joanna and Graham Barker.
A portrait of Mary Magdalene: Add MS 17012, f. 36v
The female owner of this Book of Hours has been identified as Lady Joan Vaux (b. c. 1463, d. 1538), also known as Mother Guilford. Her identity was determined by Mary Erler in a number of extended studies of the volume and its numerous inscriptions (see Erler, 'Widows in Retirement’, Religion and Literature, 37 (2005), 51–75; Erler, ‘The Book of Hours as album amicorum: Jane Guildford’s Book’, in The Social Life of Illumination: Manuscripts, Images, and Communities in the Late Middle Ages, ed. by Joyce Coleman, Mark Cruse, and Kathryn Smith (Turnhout: Brepols, 2013), pp. 505–36). Vaux was an English courtier who served as lady-in-waiting to four Queens, as well as Lady Governess to the Princesses Margaret and Mary Tudor, the daughters of Henry VII and later Queens of Scotland and France. She continued to play an important role at court for much of her life — she was even known to the Dutch philosopher and humanist Erasmus — and seems to have been well respected and admired there, receiving a healthy pension and lavish gifts from the King when she retired.
Joan married twice. Her first husband was Sir Richard Guilford (b. c. 1450, d. 1506), an explorer and naval commander who died on pilgrimage to the Holy Land; her second was the English diplomat Sir Anthony Poyntz (b. c. 1480, d. 1533/35). Among the added inscriptions throughout Joan’s Book of Hours are messages and inscriptions by members of the Poyntz family. Her brother-in-laws John Poyntz (b. c. 1485, d. 1544) and Francis Poyntz (d. 1528) inscribed their Latin mottos and monograms at one of the volume’s blank openings, and Francis also added his own message, which reads, ‘Madame when ye most devoutyst be have yn remembreance f and p’. Their inscriptions appear beside that of another member of the Tudor court, Thomas Manners (b. c. 1497, d. 1543), Lord Roos and 1st Earl of Rutland, who says to her, ‘Madam wan you ar dysposyd to pray remember your assured sarvant always, T Roos’.
An opening from a Book of Hours, showing inscriptions from John and Francis Poyntz, and Thomas Manners: Add MS 17012, ff. 179v–180r
A heart-shaped monogram and added inscription: Add MS 17012, f. 180r
In addition to these personal inscriptions from her family and fellow courtiers, Joan also received expressions of favour from no less than six members of the Tudor royal family. These appear most prominently on a single opening at the very beginning of the Book of the Hours, before its main collection of prayers.
Inscriptions from members of the Tudor royal family added to the Book of Hours: Add MS 17012, ff. 20v–21r
Here, the left-hand page of the opening is given over to inscriptions by King Henry VIII (r. 1509–1547), who signs his name at the end of one set of prayers, followed by his first wife Catherine of Aragon (b. 1485, d. 1536), who writes her own message, calling the book’s owner a friend and asking for her prayers.
Henry VIII
The signed name of Henry VIII: Add MS 17012, f. 20v
Catherine of Aragon
The added inscription of Catherine of Aragon: Add MS 17012, f. 20v
I thinke the prayers of a frend the
most acceptable unto God and
because I take you for one of myn
assured I pray you remembre me
in yours.
Katherine the queen
On the facing page, we find added messages from King Henry VII (r. 1485–1509), his Queen consort Elizabeth of York (b. 1466, d. 1503), and their daughter Princess Margaret (b. 1489, d. 1541). The King and Queen wrote in English and the Princess in French.
Henry VII
The added inscription of Henry VII: Add MS 17012, f. 21r
Madame I pray you re
membre me your louyng
maistre.
Henry R[ex]
Elizabeth of York
The added inscription of Elizabeth of York: Add MS 17012, f. 21r
Madame I pray you forget
not me to pray to god
I may haue part of
your prayers.
Elysabeth the quene
Princess Margaret
The added inscription of Princess Margaret, shot under ultraviolet light: Add MS 17012, f. 21r
et moy je vous prie que maintietenes
tourjours en sa bonne grace
cest m[argueri]te
and myself, I pray that you remain
always in his good grace
this is Margaret
Remarkably, these inscriptions are not the only additions to this Book of Hours made by members of the Tudor royal family. At the end of the volume, another text has been added, an English translation of a Latin prayer (‘Concede mihi, misericors Deus’) attributed to the Italian theologian Thomas Aquinas. The prayer’s introduction indicates that this translation was made by Princess Mary, later Queen Mary I (r. 1553–1558), in 1527, when she was only 11 years old:
The prayor of Saynt Thomas of Aquyne, translatyd oute of Latyn unto Englyshe by the moste exselent Prynses Mary, doughter to the moste hygh and myghty Prynce and Prynces kyng Henry the viij. and Quene Kateryne hys wyfe in the yere of our Lorde God m'.ccccc.xxvij [1527]. and the xj yere of here age
The beginning of an added English translation of a Latin prayer by Thomas Aquinas, made by Princess Mary: Add MS 17012, f. 192v
In the margin beneath this text, Mary added her own message and dedication to the book’s owner, mirroring the sentiments of other members of her family in asking Joan to remember her in her prayers:
I have red that no body lyvethe as
he shulde doo but he that foloweth
verrtu and y reckenynge you to be one of
them I pray you to remembre me
yn your devocyons.
Mary the princesse
The multiple expressions of royal favour throughout the Book of Hours speak to the prominence and reputation of its owner, and they also provide a fascinating insight into the changing dynamics of the Tudor court itself. This is particularly apparent in the treatment of the inscriptions made by Catherine of Aragon and her daughter Mary. In all these cases, vigorous attempts at erasure have been made. Catherine’s title as ‘quene’ and ‘wife’ to Henry VIII, and Mary’s title as ‘princess’, have been scrubbed away and subsequently overwritten to prevent them from being read.
Erasures made to inscriptions and texts by Catherine of Aragon and Princess Mary: Add MS 17012, ff. 20v, 192v
Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon famously did not last, with the King annulling it in 1533, so that he could marry Anne Boleyn. He subsequently banished Catherine from the royal court, stripping her of her title as Queen. Until the end of her life, she was known as the ‘Dowager Princess of Wales’, in light of her marriage to Henry’s older brother, Prince Arthur (d. 1502). Mary, meanwhile, was deemed illegitimate and styled ‘The Lady Mary’, the title Princess similarly taken away from her. Joan Vaux herself was notably called for a deposition during the divorce proceedings, where she was asked to testify whether or not Catherine’s marriage to Arthur had been consummated. It is unclear whether Joan was forced to undertake the removal of Catherine’s and Mary’s titles in her own Book of Hours, or whether this was the work of a later owner of the book.
A portrait of St Anne, with the Virgin Mary and Infant Christ: Add MS 17012, f. 34v
Joan’s book represents a tantalising witness to the life of a significant figure at the Tudor court, the affections of her family and friends, and to a fraught and changing political climate that dominated England in the early 1500s. We hope you enjoy exploring its pages online.
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09 February 2023
A newly-acquired manuscript of the Knights Hospitaller
For two hundred years, the Knights Hospitaller ruled the Greek island of Rhodes, just off the coast of Turkey. From there, this Christian military-religious Order fought a naval war against the growing Ottoman Empire, slowly pushing back the edges of Catholic Christendom. As the Ottoman advances continued, the Hospitallers made repeated calls for reinforcements from Europe. A new acquisition by the British Library, Add MS 89542, is one of the Order’s last pleas for aid for Rhodes.
The manuscript is a presentation copy of Giovanni Battista Gargha’s Orationes, copied from the printed edition and made for the Hospitaller grandmaster Fabrizio del Carretto (r. 1513-21), who is depicted in a miniature in the volume. Gargha was a Hospitaller priest and diplomat. His Orationes was an early printed book containing the text of two speeches he made to Pope Leo X at the Fifth Lateran Council in December 1513 and March 1514. In these speeches, Gargha begged for support for the Order on Rhodes.
In his first speech, the Hospitaller grandmaster warned that a large Turkish fleet was being assembled to attack Rhodes, an island that he said was key to Christendom’s defence, with its strategic location in the eastern Mediterranean, controlling routes to the Black Sea, Turkey and Syria. He called for the reform of the Church, a new crusade against the Ottomans, and the capture of Constantinople and Jerusalem. Gargha’s second speech followed much the same lines as his first. He again called for a crusade and said that the Ottomans were now preparing to attack Italy itself. Such an expedition never came, but the Pope and Francis I of France did dispatch several ships to Rhodes.
The manuscript is just one of several pieces of Hospitaller propaganda held by the Library, including two printed editions of the Orationes (C.25.i.1.(6.) and IA.18396.(10.)), several copies of Guillaume Caoursin’s account of the 1480 siege of Rhodes in Latin, German and Danish, and an English pamphlet on the fall of Rhodes in 1522 (C.55.h.5).
After fighting off sieges in 1444 and 1480, the island finally fell in 1522, when the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent besieged Rhodes for six months until the Hospitallers finally surrendered. At the back of our newly-acquired volume (pp. 38–40) is a unique text discussing the Order’s defeat. This French account was written by a Hospitaller soon after the siege, possibly a member of the Order’s chancery. The author bemoans the loss of Rhodes and the many dead in the siege, before giving a list of reasons why the island fell. It appears to be a unique text, and hints at a debate within the shell-shocked Order as to why they lost their island home of 200 years.
The manuscript is also notable for its fine humanistic script. The scribe was Ludovico Vicentino degli Arrighi (b. 1475, d. 1527), who worked in the papal chancery in Rome. As a Vatican Scriptor, he wrote the formal antica tonda script, used in Gargha's Orationes, and popularised the cancelleresca (chancery) script. This became the model for the printing types with which he printed several short humanist texts. He also planned, but left unfinished, a manual of writing printed from wood blocks based on his hand, the first of its kind, of which many copies exist. The British Library holds four other manuscripts of his work (Add MS 26873, Add MS 11930, Royal MS 12 C VIII and Harley MS 5423), as well as copies of his printed publications. His pamphlet La Operina (1522) is thought to be the first European writing manual aimed at a general adult audience.
We are delighted that this manuscript of Gargha’s Orationes is now part of our collections. The manuscript was presented to the British Library by Nicolas Barker, formerly Head of Conservation at the British Library, who had received it in turn from Vera Law (b. 1899, d. 1985), calligrapher and gilder. The manuscript can now be viewed in full on our Universal Viewer.
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15 December 2022
The Lindisfarne Gospels back at the British Library
The Lindisfarne Gospels is back on display in the Sir John Ritblat Treasures Gallery at the British Library, following its loan to the Lindisfarne Gospels exhibition at the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle from 17 September to 3 December 2022. The exhibition in Newcastle, which was the culmination of a year-long programme of cultural events across the North East, attracted over 56,000 visitors. You can read more about the exhibition in our previous blogpost.
The Lindisfarne Gospels is now on exhibition at the British Library showing the Chi-rho page, a particularly appropriate display for Christmastime. The Chi-rho is the abbreviated Greek name of Christ, spelled Chi-rho-iota, or ‘XPI’. In some early Latin gospel-books, including the Lindisfarne Gospels, there is a large decorated Chi-rho at the beginning of the account of the Incarnation at Matthew 1:18, Christi autem generatio sic erat (‘Now the birth of Jesus Christ was in this way’).
In the Lindisfarne Gospels, the Chi-rho fills up almost the entire page. The insides of the letters are dense with knotted birds and interlace, while the outsides spin with an almost cosmic display of swirls. The letter chi looks as though it is leaping across the page on lithe legs, leaving trails of spirals in its wake – a jump for joy in honour of Christ’s birth.
The Chi-rho page also stars on the front cover of the newly published book about the Lindisfarne Gospels: Eleanor Jackson, The Lindisfarne Gospels: Art, History and Inspiration (London: British Library, 2022). Written by the British Library’s Curator of Illuminated Manuscripts, the book is an accessible introduction to the production, decoration and history of the manuscript. It is fully illustrated in colour and is available from the British Library Shop.
You can also view the Lindisfarne Gospels online on the British Library’s Digitised Manuscripts website, and keep an eye on the blog for more Christmassy Chi-rho content coming soon!
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06 October 2022
Panizzi Lectures – Drawing Conclusions: Diagrams in Medieval Art and Thought
The British Library is delighted to announce the 2022 Panizzi Lecture series which will be given by Jeffrey Hamburger on Drawing Conclusions: Diagrams in Medieval Art and Thought.
Diagrams constitute an omnipresent feature of medieval art and thought. From Antiquity onwards, the forms and procedures of geometric reasoning held a privileged place in the pursuit of truth, the understanding of which remained closely linked to ideals of beauty and perfection.
Drawing on the collections of the British Library, whose holdings provide virtually comprehensive coverage of all ramifications of the diagrammatic tradition, this series of lectures examines the practical, theoretical and aesthetic dimensions of medieval diagrams as matrices of meaning and patterns of thought informing diverse areas of medieval culture.
The lectures will be held in person at the British Library and also live streamed, thanks to the generosity of Jonathan A. Hill, Bookseller.
Lecture 1 : 24th October. Maps of the Mind: Diagrams Medieval and Modern.
Lecture 2: 27th October. The Codex in the Classroom: Practical Dimensions of Medieval Diagrams.
Lecture 3: 1st November. Poetry, Play, Persuasion: The Diagrammatic Imagination in Medieval Art and Thought. Followed by a drinks reception.
Booking is free but required for both in person and online attendance.
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01 October 2022
‘Do you like gold? Use it!’: A golden binding by Pierre Legrain
‘Do you like gold? Use it!’ So said the fashion designer and art collector Jacques Doucet (1853-1929) to the interior decorator and designer Pierre Legrain (1889-1929) when he encouraged him to apply his talents to designing modern bindings for Doucet’s modern books. Thus began the fruitful collaboration between a collector and a designer which would produce some of the most striking binding designs of the early 20th century. Following his work for Doucet, Legrain became known as a designer of bookbindings in the early 1920s and worked for a number of different clients. He was widely recognised as the leading designer of French bindings of the early 20th century and produced some of his best and most famous work towards the end of his life.
The final case in the British Library’s Gold exhibition contains a number of bookbindings which are all decorated with gold using various techniques. Among them is the most recent object in the exhibition. It is a binding designed by Pierre Legrain in Paris on an edition of La vagabonde by Colette, printed in 1927. The binding was designed by Legrain at the height of his career in the late 1920s and is a great example of the very effective and skilful use of gold tooling. The book is bound in citron goatskin, Legrain’s favourite covering material, and is decorated with blue goatskin onlays and tooled in gold and silver to an all-over art deco design. It is signed by Legrain on the doublure inside the upper cover and belonged to the book collector Major J. R. (John Roland) Abbey (1894-1969) before it was acquired by the British Library in the 1970s.
Pierre Legrain was a designer rather than a bookbinder, and his designs were transferred to bindings by skilled craftsmen, always to the highest standards, first in their studios, and later, once he had become successful and well-known, in his own studio. His style was revolutionary and a departure from all French bookbinding designs produced in previous centuries. His designs were not centred on each cover as had been the case previously, but he instead used both covers and the spine of a book as a blank canvas for which to create a design going all the way across, looking to contemporary art and design for inspiration. Legrain often made use of a ruler and a divider, and his early designs were often geometrical before he moved to more asymmetrical and complicated designs later on in his career.
Legrain was of the opinion that a binding should prepare the reader for the book it encloses. The designs he produced and the way he looked at a binding as a work of art set the tone for how French – and other European – bookbinding design was to develop in the first half of the 20th century.
You can visit Gold in the British Library until 2 October 2022. If you would like a taster of the exhibition or are unable to visit in person, you can watch the virtual exhibition opening on the British Library Player, or purchase the accompanying book Gold: Spectacular Manuscripts from Around the World from the British Library shop.
Karen Limper-Herz
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Supported by:
The exhibition is supported by the Goldhammer Foundation and the American Trust for the British Library, with thanks to The John S Cohen Foundation, The Finnis Scott Foundation, the Owen Family Trust and all supporters who wish to remain anonymous.
14 August 2022
Gold galore in the Harley Golden Gospels
Every one of the glistening treasures in the Gold exhibition will startle and impress our visitors. But there are some more than others that may cause them to catch their breath, especially at the dates on the labels. The Harley Golden Gospels is one of these, a magnificent imperial book, written entirely in gold at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne (r. 800-814), perhaps for emperor himself. Amazingly, this treasured book has survived in near-perfect condition for over 1,200 years.
The court of Charlemagne was Christian while modelling itself on the splendours of ancient Rome. In the decoration of the Gospels, evocations of the Roman past are combined with Christian images and symbolism. Though only one page can be displayed in our exhibition, images of every page are online and here we show a selection of the most beautiful among them.
Golden writing
While the Harley Golden Gospels is often exhibited for its picture pages, the page on display in the Gold exhibition shows off the manuscript's remarkable golden script. It was very unusual for a manuscript to be written entirely in gold, so this is an outstanding display of wealth and scribal skill. Every text page is also ornamented with a different patterned frame, beautifully painted in colours and gold. This amount of attention lavished on the Gospel text was probably intended to show that it represented the word of God in physical form, with its radiance emphasising the value of divine wisdom.
Canon Tables
Following the biblical prefaces at the beginning of the volume there are eleven pages of canon tables, lists of parallel and unique passages in the Gospels. The lists of Roman numerals are set among classical columns and arches decorated with rich patterning and animals. They may evoke the Roman porphyry columns in Charlemagne’s palace chapel at Aachen.
Title Page
The title preceding the Gospels is written in gold and silver on a large red medallion surrounded by geometric designs, with the space around it filled by bright turquoise peacocks and colourful roosters.
Evangelist portraits
Each of the four Gospels is preceded by a full-page portrait of the evangelist, the authors of the Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They are each seated on a throne that resembles in shape the throne of Charlemagne at Aachen, and are surrounded by an imperial setting of columns and arches. On the facing page is an elaborate initial and the opening words of the Gospel in large gold capitals
At the beginning of his Gospel, Matthew points to an open book, with an angel above. The opposite page contains the opening words of his Gospel in gold capitals; the large ‘L’ of ‘Liber generationis’ (The book of the generation) is topped with two lion-like creatures in a medallion.
Mark dips his pen in an inkwell while holding an open book. The lion above holds an unfurled scroll with the opening words of his Gospel. On the opposite page the first letter ‘I’ of ‘Initium’ (The beginning) has interlace patterns and contains a roundel with a bust of Christ. The name ‘Marcum’ (Mark) appears in red in the central column among the gold lettering.
The opening page of Luke’s Gospel has a colour palette dominated by warm reds and ochres. Above him, a white ox with wings holds an open book. On the facing page, an angel announces the future birth of John the Baptist to Zacharias, his father, who is at an altar in a round Temple. On either side are roundels of Elizabeth, his wife, and her cousin Mary, mothers of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ.
The evangelist John is a more solid figure than Luke and faces straight out of the page. He is shown with his symbol of a golden eagle, and he, like Mark, dips his pen in an ink well. On the facing page, John the Baptist and two disciples below all point upwards to the Lamb of God, illustrating a passage from John’s Gospel (1: 36-37). The purple inscribed with gold capitals on this page further emphasises the imperial connotations of this work, since purple was especially associated with the Roman emperors (you can read more about gold and purple manuscripts in a previous blogpost).
With such a wealth of shining decorations, this splendid manuscript certainly earns its name as the Harley Golden Gospels.
The British Library’s Gold exhibition runs until 2 October 2022. You can read more about the exhibition in our previous blogpost and you can book tickets online now. An accompanying book Gold: Spectacular Manuscripts from Around the World is available from the British Library shop.
Chantry Westwell
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Supported by:
The exhibition is supported by the Goldhammer Foundation and the American Trust for the British Library, with thanks to The John S Cohen Foundation, The Finnis Scott Foundation, the Owen Family Trust and all supporters who wish to remain anonymous.
18 July 2022
The golden splendour of the Queen Mary Psalter
Our Gold exhibition includes some of the most justly famous illuminated manuscripts in the Library. One of these, the Queen Mary Psalter, is one of the most extensively illustrated biblical manuscripts ever produced, containing over 1000 images. Extraordinarily, all of the Psalter’s illustrations were completed by the same person, an artist who is now known as the ‘Queen Mary Master’ after this book.
The Psalter was created in England, probably in London or East Anglia, between 1310 and 1320. We don’t know for whom it was originally created, as there are no contemporary ownership inscriptions or other clues such as coats of arms that would identify the original patron. Nevertheless, the magnitude and quality of its illustrations are certainly grand enough to have been for a royal or aristocratic owner. The manuscript later belonged to Queen Mary I (r. 1553–58), from whom it takes its name. It was presented to her in 1553 by a customs officer, Baldwin Smith, who had prevented its export from England.
You can hear Kathleen Doyle, Lead Curator of Illuminated Manuscripts, talking about the Queen Mary Psalter in the Gold Exhibition Virtual Private View which is available to watch on the British Library Player (starting at 10:28):
For the Gold exhibition, we exhibit an opening which forms a sort of diptych of the Tree of Jesse and the Holy Kinship, placed together after a blank recto to form a coordinated pairing. Together they provide a commentary on the ancestry and family of Christ.
The Tree of Jesse on the left begins at the bottom with the recumbent Jesse, the ancestor of David. A large branch growing out of his torso curves around forming roundels in which his crowned descendants are seated on branches in the central and to either side of the middle king. Four figures with round hats stand laterally above and below the kings, perhaps the four major prophets. The only descendant who is identifiable by an attribute is David, who is playing his harp, directly above Jesse.
The iconography of the Jesse Tree is derived from Isaiah’s prophecy that ‘there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root’ (egredietur virga de radice Iesse et flos de radice eius ascendet, Isaiah 11:1), in which the virga or rod is interpreted as a reference to the virgo, or Virgin. However, in this instance the Virgin is not included at the top of the tree, as is usual, but rather she is featured on the opposite page with a more unusual Psalter subject, the Holy Kinship.
The depiction of the Holy Kinship on the right is shown in registers that are aligned with the levels of Jesse and the kings in circular branches in the Tree of Jesse. At the bottom is St Anne, by tradition the mother of the Virgin, with each of her three husbands, Joachim, Cleophas and Salome. These couples are not identified by a label or caption, but their identities are clear from the figures in the register above them, namely their respective daughters, all called Mary. In this second register the three Marian half-sisters appear with their respective husbands. They are each labelled with their names written beneath them (rather helpfully, as Mary I, Mary II and Mary III).
In the next register the Virgin (labelled Maria Virgo) holds the Christ Child, next to St James the Less, in the centre, one of the sons of Mary Cleophas (II), and with St James the Great, to the right, the son of Mary Salome (III). In the top register Christ appears on his own to the left, here in Majesty, holding a globe of the world, next to the other two sons of Mary Cleophas who became apostles (Sts Simon and Jude), and St John the Evangelist, the other son of Mary Salome to the right.
Throughout, the figures are set on a glimmering gold backgrounds, on the right, with incised with intricate patterns, or alternating with coloured diamonds or squares.
For more on the textual basis for and other manuscript examples, see our previous blogpost on the Holy Kinship. To see this interesting pairing in person you can book tickets to the Gold exhibition. An accompanying book Gold: Spectacular Manuscripts from Around the World is available from the British Library shop.
Kathleen Doyle
Follow us on Twitter @BLMedieval
Supported by:
The exhibition is supported by the Goldhammer Foundation and the American Trust for the British Library, with thanks to The John S Cohen Foundation, The Finnis Scott Foundation, the Owen Family Trust and all supporters who wish to remain anonymous.
Medieval manuscripts blog recent posts
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- Gold galore in the Harley Golden Gospels
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- A marvel in gold and ivory: Queen Melisende’s Psalter
- Highlights from our Gold exhibition
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