1/7/2024 0 Comments St johns illuminationsThe first task for the calligraphers that joined the project was to learn the new script. It is easy to read to the modern eye and has a strong enough texture to work with powerful illuminations. A good clear script in a two-column format was finally chosen. Because of the large amount of text, the writing has to be small. The Saint John's Bible is written in a script designed by Donald Jackson. 'Vision of the New Temple, Ezekiel 40: 1 to 48: 35', illuminated calfskin vellum bible page by Donald Jackson, 2005. Pigments (vermilion for red and a mixture of azurite and ultramarine for blue) are used to indicate the start of paragraphs, the verse numbers and marginal notes for the New Revised Standard Version. The black ink used throughout is mixed from Chinese stick ink. Turkey and swan quills are sometimes used for heavier letters and chapter headings. Quills made from goose wing feathers are used for writing the main text. To restore the writing surface, the abraded area is brushed with powdered sandarac, a resin from a North African conifer. Mistakes can be removed using a sharp knife. It is extremely strong and after treatment provides the perfect surface texture on which to write and paint. Vellum or calfskin was chosen as the best writing surface for the Saint John's Bible. The seven volumes of the Bible will eventually be bound in 200-year-old Welsh oak boards and permanently housed in the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library at Saint John's Abbey & University. Yet at the same time it incorporates the latest computer technology and contemporary texts (the New Revised Standard Version). It emulates the spirit of the great medieval Bibles, using animal skin, handmade quills and natural, hand-ground inks and pigments. The production of the Saint John's Bible is a combination of the ancient and modern. It is taking place in a scriptorium in Monmouth, Wales, under the artistic direction of Donald Jackson and his team of scribes and illuminators. Work started in 2000 and is scheduled for completion in 2007, at a total cost of over £2 million. In November 1995, he presented the idea to Saint John's Benedictine Abbey & University in Minnesota. Hill Museum & Manuscript Libraryįor many years Donald Jackson, Senior Illuminator to Her Majesty's Crown Office, dreamed of creating a modern illuminated Bible to celebrate the new millennium. 'Vision of Isaiah, Isaiah 6: 1-13', illuminated calfskin vellum bible page by Donald Jackson, 2005.
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