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News Archive > The Saint John's Bible
Illuminating the New Millennium
For Immediate Release
THE SAINT JOHN’S BIBLE
ILLUMINATING THE NEW MILLENNIUM
Saint John’s Abbey and University Commission
Scribe to Queen Elizabeth to Create
First Modern Handwritten and Illuminated Bible
Collegeville, MN, March 24, 1999 – Saint John’s Abbey and Saint John’s
University today announced an unprecedented undertaking in the book arts
with the unveiling of the first proposed page of The Saint John’s Bible,
the only handwritten and illuminated Bible commissioned since the advent of
the printing press 500 years ago.
Saint John’s Abbey, a Benedictine monastery, and Saint John’s University,
founded by the Abbey in 1857, have commissioned one of the world’s foremost
calligraphers, Donald Jackson, to carry out this major artistic, cultural
and spiritual endeavor. Jackson, scribe to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s
Crown Office at the House of Lords in the United Kingdom, will be working
with a team of artists and theologians from Saint John’s Abbey and
University as well as from the Monastery of Saint Benedict and the College
of Saint Benedict. Consisting of 1,150 pages in seven volumes, The Saint
John’s Bible will be completed in the year 2004.
“With The Saint John’s Bible, we seek to ignite the imagination of
the world with a remarkable contemporary work of art, and to illuminate
God’s Word by reviving an ancient monastic tradition,” said Brother Dietrich
Reinhart, OSB, President of Saint John’s University. Abbot Timothy Kelly,
OSB, of Saint John’s Abbey, added, “Through partnerships with museums and
libraries and educational outreach, we hope to touch people of all cultures
and creeds with the spirit and beauty of this book.”
The Saint John’s Bible will be the first handwritten Bible that
interprets and illustrates scripture from a contemporary perspective,
reflecting a multicultural world and humanity’s enormous strides in science,
technology and space travel. An ecumenical undertaking, The Saint John’s
Bible also will incorporate imagery from Eastern and Western religious
traditions, as well as influences from the Native American cultures in the
Minnesota area. It also will document Minnesota as the birthplace of The
Saint John’s Bible through illustrations of flora and fauna indigenous
to the region. The translation used in The Saint John’s Bible is the
New Revised Standard Version, which employs gender-inclusive language.
“The Bible is the calligraphic artist’s supreme challenge, our Sistine
Chapel,” said Donald Jackson. “I realize now this is the thing I have been
preparing for all of my life.” Mr. Jackson, along with collaborating artists
and craftsmen from around the world, will write The Saint John’s Bible
using goose quills on vellum. The seven-volume, 1,150-page Bible will
include gold-leaf illuminations, and the text will be written using a unique
lettering developed by Mr. Jackson for The Saint John’s Bible. The
majority of the Bible will be written at Jackson’s scriptorium in Wales, as
well as at his artist-in-residence studio at Saint John’s in Minnesota.
The first completed volume, The Gospels and Acts of the Apostles,
will be unveiled at Christmas in the year 2000. The Abbey and University
plan to tour volumes of The Saint John’s Bible to museums and
libraries worldwide, and to develop educational and outreach initiatives for
children and under-served communities as an integral part of the project.
The Saint John’s Bible will be composed of seven 15 ¾” by 23 ½”
volumes: The Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, The Book of
Psalms, The Pentateuch, The Wisdom and Poetic Books, The Prophets, The
Historical Books, and The Letters and The Book of Revelation.
“We at Saint John’s are looking to create a 21st century Bible, drawing
on the great tradition of handwritten and illuminated Bibles but creating
something unique that is inspired by, and can in turn inspire, our time,”
said Eric Hollas, OSB, Director of Saint John’s Hill Monastic Manuscript
Library. “It is the one thing we will probably be remembered for 500 years
from now.”
The Saint John’s Bible is being underwritten by private support.
To date, more than 35 individuals, families, foundations and corporations
have contributed nearly $900,000 to The Saint John’s Bible, including
a $500,000 challenge grant from the Eugene U. and Mary F. Frey Family Fund
at The Saint Paul Foundation and the generous corporate leadership support
of the Dayton Hudson Corporation and Target Stores.
The First Page Unveiled
The first illuminated page to be unveiled depicts the opening of the
Gospel according to Matthew. It tells the story of the genealogy of
Jesus as understood by Matthew, an evangelist writing to Jewish Christians
at the dawn of the second century. Matthew tells the story of a family tree
with strong Jewish roots, focusing on such famous figures as Abraham and
Sarah, Noah, David and Bethsheba, Solomon, and Joseph and Mary, and ending
with Jesus.
Mr. Jackson’s illustration depicts a Jewish menorah as the family tree,
surrounded by intertwined spirals suggestive of DNA chains and names written
in Hebrew, Arabic, and English.
“As this is the first page of the New Testament, I have aimed to make it
a stepping stone from the Old,” said Mr. Jackson. “The menorah is a powerful
Jewish symbol, which is important because this Bible will be inclusive.”
Saint John’s Bible Themes
The themes expressed in The Saint John’s Bible reflect the
Benedictine values of hospitality and the inestimable value of the human
person, human life, creativity and work.
The Saint John’s Bible will highlight positive images of women,
including Mary, the Virgin Mother, the New Testament figures of Martha and
Mary, and the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament figures of the Mothers of Israel,
Sarah, Leah and Rachel. The Saint John’s Bible also will expand upon
the repertoire of images of God and creation to include feminine images and
images from other religious traditions, including Hagar, the mother of
Ishmael and the line of Islam.
The selection and interpretation of Bible passages for illumination was
decided under the leadership and guidance of a team of artists and
theologians from Saint John’s with input from other religious leaders,
including men and women from a diverse range of religious traditions.
The Process of Planning, Writing, and Illuminating The Saint John’s
Bible
Mr. Jackson will create all of the illustrations using traditional tools,
colors, inks and metals, inviting other scribes from around the world to
consult and work with him at the scriptorium. Illustrations will be
illuminated with gold, silver, copper and platinum. The Saint John’s
Bible will be written with quills on carefully selected vellum that is
prepared for writing on both sides.
This manuscript is the first handwritten Bible to be rendered on a
computer. The text, the New Revised Standard Version, was sent to Mr.
Jackson on computer discs. A font close in size to the one Mr. Jackson has
developed for The Saint John’s Bible was used to create a digital
template, enabling him to plan the specific layout of each page.
Educational Initiatives and Worldwide Outreach
Saint John’s Abbey and Saint John’s University are committed to using The
Saint John’s Bible to reach out to people worldwide, particularly to
children and under-served communities. In addition to touring the Bible to
museums and libraries globally, Saint John’s also plans to publish a
mass-produced version of The Saint John’s Bible as well as a CD-ROM
version to be distributed worldwide. Saint John’s also is working on a
curriculum plan for schoolchildren that uses The Saint John’s Bible
as a way to explore the history of the book arts, modern art, and scripture.
Information about the making of and excerpts from the Bible are available on
The Saint John’s Bible Web site at
www.saintjohnsbible.org.
A Monastic Tradition
Since its formation in the sixth century, Benedictine monasticism has been
an important source for the production and the preservation of books. It was
through their painstaking efforts throughout the Middle Ages that great
manuscripts, not only Bibles and prayer books but also great works of
philosophy and science, were preserved for future generations.
Saint John’s Abbey and the Monastery of Saint Benedict are connected to
this tradition through the various book arts programs they sponsor,
including the Hill Monastic Manuscript Library (HMML), Arca Artium, and the
Rare Books Collection at Saint John’s and the Book Arts Program at the
College of Saint Benedict.
Since its founding in 1965, HMML has sent teams of researchers and
technicians to film more than 25 million pages from nearly 90,000 volumes in
libraries and archives throughout Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
Today, HMML represents one of the largest and most comprehensive archives of
medieval and Renaissance sources in the world. More than a repository of
manuscripts, HMML is one of the most highly regarded research libraries in
medieval studies in the country.
Saint John’s Abbey, Saint John’s University and the College of Saint
Benedict
Saint John’s Abbey is a Benedictine monastic community of men who follow the
1500-year tradition of worship and work through daily prayer and service.
About two thirds of the community live and work in Collegeville, Minnesota.
The Abbey is located on 2,400 acres of woodland and lakes in Collegeville,
70 miles north of Minneapolis/Saint Paul.
Saint John’s University for men and the College of Saint Benedict for
women, located in Collegeville, Minnesota, are partners in liberal arts
education, providing students the opportunity to benefit from the
distinctions of not one, but two nationally recognized Catholic
undergraduate colleges. Together the colleges challenge students to live
balanced lives of learning, work, leadership and service in a changing
world.
For additional information or visuals please contact:
Linda Orzechowski
The Saint John's Bible
(320) 363-3514
lorzechowsk@csbsju.edu
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