Concluding Volume of a Bible

From the Getty Museum record

Produced for a Cistercian nunnery at Marquette in northeast France, this thirteenth-century manuscript was the culminating volume of a multivolume Christian Bible. The codex contains passages from nearly all the books of the New Testament along with Maccabees 1 and 2 from the Old Testament. Within the manuscript there are numerous initials with illuminations, mostly in a palette of red and blue. In addition to initials containing abstract decorative patterns there are also initials containing figures in narrative scenes. These illuminations mark the beginning of the biblical books. Most of the biblical texts end abruptly: at some point in time, it is thought that folios without significant artistic content were removed from the manuscript. There is an intriguing set of illuminations for the books known as the Letters of Paul, the thirteen books of the New Testament attributed to Saint Paul the Apostle. Against brilliant gold leaf grounds, the artist depicts Paul writing his letters in a series of historiated initials (enlarged letters decorated with a narrative illustration): handing a book to a messenger, presenting a book to a bishop, and conversing with a priest. In the initial that opens the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews, the artist represents the saint in conversation with a group of Jews. While they wear the same red and blue drapery as Paul, they are distinguished by their pointed, conical hats. Medieval Christian artists often rendered Jewish people with such headwear.