FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New pages from The Saint John’s Bible now on display at Saint John’s. Selections from Prophets are unveiled in response to The Minneapolis Institute of Arts exhibition

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) at Saint John’s University announces the opening of a new exhibition, entitled Portrayals of Prophets and Prophecies, featuring recently completed pages of The Saint John’s Bible and selections from the rare books and Arca Artium collections. The exhibition will be on view at the HMML gallery throughout the summer, with an end date to be announced.

Artistic director Donald Jackson delivered the new pages of The Saint John’s Bible when he came from his scriptorium in Wales to attend the opening of Illuminating the Word:  The Saint John’s Bible at The Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) in April.  Since the exhibition’s opening, visitors from as far away as New York and California have extended their visit to include Saint John’s University (Collegeville, Minnesota) seeking additional materials and information on The Saint John’s Bible.  The exhibition at HMML of additional pages of The Saint John’s Bible has been prepared in response to such interest.

Five original pages from The Saint John’s Bible will be on display; the selections will be rotated periodically to provide for re-humidification of the vellum material.  Shown with additional works of art from HMML’s collection, visitors will be able to compare various artists’ interpretations of similar subject matter.  The exhibition includes, for example, two interpretations of Valley of the Dry Bones, one an illumination for The Saint John’s Bible by Donald Jackson and the other a 1963 lithograph by Abraham Rattner.  Additional works to be displayed include a 1956 lithograph by Marc Chagall, etchings of the story of Jonah by Ben-Zion, and a series of portraits of the Major Prophets by 16^th-century lithographer de Jode.

With the arrival of Prophets, the creation of The Saint John’s Bible is more than half-completed.  Four of the seven volumes have now been delivered to Saint John’s University: Gospels and Acts (136 pages, completed May 2002), Pentateuch (158 pages, completed August 2003), Psalms (80 pages, completed April 2004), and Prophets (272 pages, completed April 2005).  The Saint John’s Bible will be fully completed in 2007.  A page-by-page reproduction of Gospels & Acts is available for purchase, as are prints of any page from The Saint John’s Bible.

The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library  and its Gift Shop are open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and during the summer, between Memorial Day and Labor Day, weekends from 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m.  Presentations on The Saint John’s Bible are offered to the general public Monday through Friday at 1:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.hmml.org or call 320-363-3514.  Groups are asked to call in advance.

In the Benedictine tradition of reverence for human thought and creativity, the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) preserves manuscripts, printed books and art at Saint John's University; undertakes photographic preservation projects throughout the world; and makes these resources available to students, researchers and visitors both onsite and through advanced technology.  HMML is the home of the world’s largest collection of manuscript images and of The Saint John’s Bible, a handwritten, illuminated Bible for the modern era.  HMML is located on the Saint John’s University campus, 70 miles northwest of Minneapolis on I-94 and can be found at www.hmml.org or through the Saint John’s University Web site at www.csbsju.edu. 

                                                           -END-

For additional information or visuals, please contact:

Linda Orzechowski
The Saint John's Bible
(320) 363-3514
lorzechowsk@csbsju.edu

News & Events  |  People & Places  |  See & Hear  |  Why & How  |  Educator's Forum  |  Participate

Search  |  Contacts  |  FAQ  |  Gift Shop  |  Donate  | Home

Copyright © 2005 Saint John's University
All rights reserved.