This page is referenced by:

• 1 2021-11-03T13:49:17-07:00 What is this? 44 plain 2023-01-14T08:25:36-08:00 By Emma VanSeveren '23
  
  
  The Morgan Bible is a medieval picture Bible that contains over 380 scenes from the Old Testament. The illuminated manuscript brings alive the biblical stories in a thirteenth-century French setting. Most of its stories are dedicated to kings or heroes, especially King David. Forty percent of the pages in this manuscript are dedicated to David, who was a king of the Israelites and who established Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. This page, folio13r, relates events from the Book of Judges. The protagonist in these events is Gideon; a historically timid yet praised judge who ruled over Israel. This page of the Morgan Picture Bible illustrates both triumph and defeat in battle in order to demonstrate the importance of religion in the Crusades.
  
  In the upper left, Gideon and his companions arrive at the altar of Baal, a pagan god, and begin to shatter the altar as instructed by God. In the upper right, Gideon is guided by an angel to assemble an army with the golden trumpet. 
  
  In the lower half of the manuscript, Gideon relies only on three hundred men to defeat the Midianite army as they cry aloud: “the Sword of the Lord and Gideon.”
  
  The thematic connection between the battles of the Old Testament and the Crusades in thirteenth-century France suggest that the people of France who viewed this manuscript used these biblical events to think about current events.
  
   
• 1 2021-11-03T13:51:44-07:00 Who made this? 10 plain 2023-01-14T08:54:35-08:00 By Emma VanSeveren '23
  
  The thirteenth-century saw a shift in manuscript production from the monastery to secular shops. Large productions like the Morgan Picture Bible required collaboration between multiple shops and artists. The Morgan Bible includes evidence that the work was distributed amongst several artists; this can be seen in the variety of preparatory sketches, indicating differences between those who designed the Bible and those who completed it.
  To keep an orderly process, a project manager would assign units of work to artists and groups. According to the Morgan Library website, “A master artist can be distinguished, and he was responsible for nearly forty percent of the miniatures (fols. 12-29). He was a master of naturalistic detail, dynamic battle scenes, and elegant drawings, and he never used gold backgrounds.” The master artist focused on gatherings III-V; the middle of the book. The work of the master artist is distinguished by their use of alternating blue and pink backgrounds rather than gold. This page, MS M.638 13r, may be the work of the master artist, indicated by the blue and pink backgrounds. 
  Three other artists focused on gatherings I and II. “The first of the three did folios 1,2, and 5-8; the second did folios 3 and 4, and the third did folios 9-11.” The final three artists were assigned a gathering each; VI (folios 30-35); VII (folios 36-41); and VIII (folios 42-46). 
  
  It still remains unclear who the particular artists were. However, it is clear that the completion of the Morgan Picture Bible was a collaborative effort.