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MrVersatile48
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The Bible in Brush & Stroke
Medieval and modern join forces in the Saint John's Bible.
Jennifer Trafton
A scribe bends intently over a worktable in his scriptorium in Monmouth, Wales. The page before him is vellumâ€â€calfskin sanded to a velvety smoothness. His goose quill pen has been hardened in hot sand and cut with a knife to hold ink and to create a precise line. He dips the end into vermilion pigment mixed with egg yolk for luminosity and begins to shape the first capital letter of a new chapter of the Bible he is copying.
Finishing this page will take a day. If he makes a mistake, he will have to scrape the vellum and write the word or line over again. The pressure is greater because the other side has already been illuminatedâ€â€biblical themes spun into a visual tapestry of brilliant colors, evocative imagery, and radiant gold.
But the scribe's hand is guided by long experience and a clear idea of the words' pattern on the page. The line length has already been worked out by computer to ensure a perfect fit. The accompanying illustrations are the result of months of e-mail messages between the scribe and those who have commissioned him, discussing theological interpretation and symbolism. Medieval artistry with a modern twist: That's the achievement and the challenge of the Saint John's Bible, the first handwritten, illuminated Bible in 500 years.
Dignified Witness...
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/200 ... 28.58.html
See also
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/200 ... ml#related
& http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/spe ... e/1.1.html
Ian
Medieval and modern join forces in the Saint John's Bible.
Jennifer Trafton
A scribe bends intently over a worktable in his scriptorium in Monmouth, Wales. The page before him is vellumâ€â€calfskin sanded to a velvety smoothness. His goose quill pen has been hardened in hot sand and cut with a knife to hold ink and to create a precise line. He dips the end into vermilion pigment mixed with egg yolk for luminosity and begins to shape the first capital letter of a new chapter of the Bible he is copying.
Finishing this page will take a day. If he makes a mistake, he will have to scrape the vellum and write the word or line over again. The pressure is greater because the other side has already been illuminatedâ€â€biblical themes spun into a visual tapestry of brilliant colors, evocative imagery, and radiant gold.
But the scribe's hand is guided by long experience and a clear idea of the words' pattern on the page. The line length has already been worked out by computer to ensure a perfect fit. The accompanying illustrations are the result of months of e-mail messages between the scribe and those who have commissioned him, discussing theological interpretation and symbolism. Medieval artistry with a modern twist: That's the achievement and the challenge of the Saint John's Bible, the first handwritten, illuminated Bible in 500 years.
Dignified Witness...
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/200 ... 28.58.html
See also
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/200 ... ml#related
& http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/spe ... e/1.1.html
Ian
