1media/Screen Shot 2021-12-12 at 2.53.03 PM_thumb.png2021-12-12T11:53:28-08:00Emma Vanseverenb272c9802dbb32e7278cf3640e8132d3bdcff81d394472Detail: clothingplain2022-06-08T11:58:36-07:00Brooke Hendershottb0a907cd0f989ee79e94592378a1545647719cfb
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12021-11-03T13:50:27-07:00When was this made?24plain2023-01-14T08:29:15-08:00By Emma VanSeveren '23
The Morgan Bible was made in the mid-thirteenth century, during the reign of King Louis IX (1226-70). Its estimated production date lies between the years 1244-1254, because this was the time surrounding Louis’s first crusade. This time period is significant because the Gothic style was transforming the appearance of cities and libraries, while the French illumination of manuscripts entered its most memorable period. The Morgan Bible can be compared to other manuscripts commissioned by the king during this time, including the Saint Louis Psalter, the Arsenal Old Testament, and moralized Bibles. These manuscripts reflect the same cycle of the Old Testament that is presented in the Morgan Bible.
The Morgan Bible presents biblical heroes in contemporary dress and in the armor of French crusaders. The style of clothing on the biblical figures and the visual references to other works commissioned under King Louis IX, such as fleur-de-lis crowns and scepters and the architecture of Saint-Chapelle, further support the timeframe of the mid-1240s to early 1250s.
12021-11-03T13:52:13-07:00Where was this produced?10plain2022-06-13T12:17:43-07:00By Emma VanSeveren '23
The Morgan Bible is believed to have been produced in Paris, France under the rule of King Louis IX. Paris became the capital of manuscript illumination in France in the mid-thirteenth century. This establishes that manuscript illumination was a popular method at the time of King Louis IX’s reign in France; both the popularity of illuminated manuscripts and the reign of King IX can be attributed to mid-thirteenth-century France. The Morgan Bible, also, contained only illuminations on manuscripts that support the idea of the Bible being produced in thirteenth-century France, before the widespread literacy movement. King Louis IX of France also commissioned the Sainte-Chapelle in the thirteenth century; believed to be the same decade as the Morgan Bible. The modern clothing of the characters of the Bible is consistent with thirteenth-century apparel in France. The “biblical kings wear crusader armor and have fleur-de-lis crowns and scepters, reinforcing the associations and royal patronage” which alludes to the apparel of thirteenth-century France at the time of the Crusades. The aggressive militant nature depicted in the Morgan Bible reigns true to the stance King Louis IX withheld to protect Christianity under his rule. In a broader sense, the Morgan Bible would likely have been produced in a decentralized workshop environment, where tasks could be distributed amongst several artists.