Inscribed Illuminations and Inspirations: Manuscripts at Bridwell Library

Title

Inscribed Illuminations and Inspirations: Manuscripts at Bridwell Library

Description

Surveying the wide range of manuscripts in Bridwell Library Special Collections representing the Christian, Judaic, and Islamic traditions, this exhibition includes items produced between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries in numerous locations throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

Creator

Bridwell Library Special Collections

Publisher

SMU Libraries

Date

Originally exhibited August 8, 2016 – December 16, 2016

Collection Items

BRMS 151
This late-Rococo style vellum wall hanging was likely produced to commemorate the arrival at the convent of Santa Clara in Palma de Mallorca of the noblewoman and nun Raymunda Torella y Despuig (d. 1826). A rare survival of art work made specifically…

BRMS 12
The Lectionary provides the scriptural readings for the liturgy on specific days during the church year. These leaves from an otherwise lost Greek lectionary include the readings for Easter Week, taken primarily from the Gospel of Matthew, and the…

Prothro B-01
Example of "Paris Vulgate" tradition, single-volume with books in canonical sequence. As was typical of the Paris Vulgate tradition, the only spaces allotted for illustrations were the interiors of the initials, which received either a portrayal of…

Prothro B-281
First widely circulated English version of the Bible from the followers of John Wycliffe (c. 1330–1384). Initials throughout are illuminated.

BRMS 20
This volume, written in old Dutch on paper, comprises short passages of the Canticum Canticorum (Song of Songs) followed by allegorical explications from the writings of St. Paul, St. Gregory the Great, St. Bonaventure, and Gilbert of Hoyland. The…

BRMS 111
Illuminated manuscript with psalms to be recited over the course of a week. There are large gilt initials and an illuminated portrait of King David.

BRMS 59
This Torah, written in unpointed Hebrew on a scroll of sixty-eight parchment skins measuring ninety-six feet in length, was number twelve (yod-bet) of the thirteen scrolls originally held by the synagogue established in 1653 in Kaifeng, China. 

BRMS 97
Written in the ancient Armenian (grapar) language in the traditional 'notrgir' script, the manuscript also includes colorful bird-shaped capitals (t'rchnagir) that spell out the opening words of each Gospel.

BRMS 49
This manuscript in ancient liturgical Ge'ez provides the text of the Psalms and other selections from the Old Testament. Illustrations in black ink on endleaves: lion?, human faces and figures. Decorative borders in red and black.

BRMS 53
Hebrew scrolls of the Megillah of Esther are notoriously difficult to date and localize, given the longstanding traditions behind their production. Written on the skin of a kosher animal, the text comprises the ten chapters of the Book of Esther,…

BRMS 31
Each of the 388 leaves feature Arabic calligraphy and unique decorative patters made with lapis lazuli, burnished gold leaf, and other bright pigments. Similarly, each of the 114 surahs (chapters) of the Quran is separated by a gilded decorative…

BRMS 29
Richly illuminated with gold, lapis lazuli, arsenic orange, and verdigris green on highly polished paper, this Quran was produced during Persia's Safavid Dynasty. Bound in brown goat with embossed flap, covers with central panel with gilt medallions…

BRMS 25
This small-format Quran is written in fine Arabic script with an interlinear Persian translation in red ink and manuscript annotations in the margins. First leaves illuminated with elaborate carpet borders of crimson, blue, gold, etc. Gilded borders…

BRMS 79
This small-format Quran, decorated with an extremely colorful floral border, features cloud-shaped areas of interlinear gilding. The effect seems to present the sacred text as if it were floating among clouds in the sky.

Prothro B-212
This illuminated manuscript is a missal which contains all of the prayers, hymns, and biblical passages read by the priest during the celebration of the Latin Mass throughout the year. The "Use of Sarum" refers to the Anglo-Saxon and Norman liturgy…

BRMS 17
This illuminated manuscript is a missal which contains all of the prayers, hymns, and biblical passages read by the priest during the celebration of the Latin Mass throughout the year. It features Bohemian saints such as St. Wenceslaus, in the…

BRMS 19
This portable breviary, used by a Franciscan friar in Italy during the fifteenth century, includes a calendar for the use of Rome with later handwritten additions indicating the feasts of several Franciscan saints. Illuminated with northern Italian…

BRMS 21
Breviaries consisted of psalms, antiphons, lectionary, martyrology, and other features. This breviary for Benedictine Use includes calendrical notes that point to a composition date circa 1431 and also includes an indulgence approved in 1431 by Pope…

BRMS 155
Gradual produced, signed and dated by Spanish nun, Maria Dies de Oña for Cistercian Use in early sixteenth century. This contains approximately the first third of the liturgial year.

BRMS 114
Written mainly in Latin, but with Spanish rubrics (headings) in red ink, this manuscript Formulario contains the prayers and oaths used in the ceremony in which female novices made their profession as nuns and received the monastic vestments that…

BRMS 122
This large folding triptych is a cartagloria, an illuminated manuscript bearing essential Latin texts for the Mass ceremony. The central miniature of the triptych replicates Leonardo da Vinci's fresco of the Last Supper at the Dominican Convent of…

BRMS 96
This processional was written for use by canons of the Praemonstratensian Order at the Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul in Ilbenstadt, Germany, near Frankfurt am Main. Signed by the scribe Frater Jeremiah Moeller.

BRMS 58
This manuscript contains excerpts from the gradual and antiphony used in Diocese of Béziers in Languedoc in southern France.

BRMS 13
Tiny decorated book features fifteen miniatures and ten vignettes of the Labors of the Months in the calendar, each set within pinnacled Gothic niches with decorated margins. Illuminated near St. Omer near the Franco-Flemish border, the Sellers Hours…

BRMS 9
Produced in Flanders for use in England, this richly illuminated manuscript includes a set of eight illustrations of scenes from the Infancy of Christ, such as the Annunciation and the Nativity, which traditionally introduced the eight sections of…
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