File: Sirach with a scroll in a thirteenth-century illuminated Bible

Sirach with a scroll in a thirteenth-century illuminated Bible

Summary

Description
Biblical manuscripts were highly prized and important possessions of churches, monasteries, cathedral schools, and universities throughout medieval Europe. The biblical texts were known as the vulgate, the translations made by Saint Jerome in the fourth century from Hebrew and Greek into Latin, which became the definitive and official Latin version of the Roman Church. In the 13th century, the bible was, for the first time, produced as a single volume with an officially sanctioned sequence to its books and chapters as illustrated by this example. The very extensive decoration of this bible is arranged hierarchically to indicate the relative importance of the various texts so that full or almost full-page initials mark the openings of the first prologue, Genesis, and the first Gospel; historiated initials mark the beginning of each book and illuminated initials mark the Prologues.
Source file
Southern France, Toulouse(?), 13th century - Fol. 257r, Ecclesiasticus, historiated initial O, Sirach seated with a scro - 2008.2.257.a - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif
Creator
https://clevelandart.org/art/2008.2.257.a [https://clevelandart.org/art/2008.2.257.a]
Credit
https://clevelandart.org/art/2008.2.257.a [https://clevelandart.org/art/2008.2.257.a]
Date
between circa 1275 and circa 1300 date QS:P571,+1500-00-00T00:00:00Z/6,P1319,+1275-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1326,+1300-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902

Licensing

License
CC0
Rights status
Copyrighted work available under the license stated below
Usage terms
Creative Commons Zero, Public Domain Dedication
Attribution required
No

File details

Dimensions
960 × 1,599 pixels
Source record retrieved
2026-08-29