To be a scribe in a scriptorium

When I was at the library this past weekend I wandered through a gallery display of "St. John's Bible," an illuminated text created much the way books were produced pre-Gutenberg. The colors were riotous and I thought I'd share a few of my favorite pages (photos below). I also loved reading about the artistic process. I saw each page as an individual work of art. To provide a context for this project, this is the text given to people visiting the display:

"The Saint John's Bible is incorporating many of the characteristics of its medieval predecessors: it is being written on vellum, using quills, natural handmade inks, hand ground pigments, and gild such as gold lead, silver leaf, and platinum. And yet it is employing the modern English translation [...] as well as contemporary scripts and illuminations.

It is being created by a group of scribes and artists in a scriptorium in Wales under the artistic direction of Donald Jackson, one of the world's foremost calligraphers and Senior Scribe to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's Crown Office at the House of Lords. When completed in 2009, the Bible will have a permanent home at Saint John's Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minnesota.

The Saint John's Bible will be the first commissioned, handwritten, monumental, illuminated Bible in the modern era."

The ten commandments

Eve & Adam

John the Baptist (If I remember correctly?)

The lineage of Jesus of Nazareth