Single leaf, Winchester Bible

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Accession number:

MS M.619

Title:

Single leaf, Winchester Bible

Created:

Winchester, England, between 1160 and 1180.

Credit:

Purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1912.

Description:

1 single leaf ; 580 x 390 mm

Provenance:

Winchester Cathedral; perhaps removed during rebinding; offered for sale for £100 to William Morris by Leo S. Olschki; purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) from Olschki in 1912; J.P. Morgan (1867-1943).

Notes:

Ms. Bible single leaf (from the Winchester Bible); the Bible was illuminated at St. Swithin's Priory, Winchester, England, between 1160 and 1180.
Text: chapter headings from I Samuel XVI to XXVI.
Decoration: 3-register miniatures on recto and verso with a sequence of 17 scenes from the lives of Samuel, Saul, and David.
Artist: the underdrawings are by the Master of the Apocrypha Drawings; painted by the Master of the Morgan Leaf.
Previous scholars have believed that this leaf - the only fully painted miniature from the Winchester Bible known to be preserved - was never inserted in the manuscript. Claire Donovan (The Winchester Bible, 1993) argues that the strong discoloration on the verso of M.619 and on the recto of folio 88 of the Winchester Bible demonstrates that M.619 was indeed inserted and the Bible itself was on display for centuries at this opening, accumulating dust and other pollutants.
Matted.

Variant Title:

Morgan Leaf

Script:

book minuscule

Language:

Latin

Resources:

Description/Bibliography

Century:

12th century

Genres:

Illuminated manuscripts