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Pocket-Sized Bible Thumbnail
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Pocket-Sized Bible

English (Artist)
ca. 1260; miniature additions ca. 1290-1300 (Gothic)
ink and pigments on very thin high quality parchment bound between red morocco covered with eighteenth-century gilt
(Manuscripts and Rare Books, Medieval Europe )

This pocket-size Bible was created around the middle of the thirteenth century in England. It contains the Vulgate text of the Old and New Testaments, arranged in order and divided into chapters. Such Bibles, designed for individual rather than institutional use, began to be created on a large scale during the thirteenth century, especially in Paris. This manuscript is illuminated with a large number of small historiated initials, and also includes a somewhat later image of the Three Living and the Three Dead, a popular scene based on a French poem of the same century.

Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.

Mr. Hulinx Borum, England [1]. Léon Gruel, Paris. Henry Walters, Baltimore; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.

[1] folio 1r

Exhibitions

1995 To Hell and Back: Medieval Images of the Afterworld. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore.
1992-1993 The Bible Before Luther. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore.
1987 Death and Dying in the Middle Ages. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore.
1984-1985 Illuminated Manuscripts: Masterpieces in Miniature. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore.
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Geographies

England (Place of Origin)

Measurements

Folio H: 5 11/16 × W: 3 3/4 in. (14.5 × 9.5 cm)

Credit Line

Acquired by Henry Walters

Location in Museum

Centre Street: Third Floor: Romanesque and Gothic Art

Accession Number

In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.

W.51

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