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"A work for eternity"

By Nicole Sweeney Etter | Photo by Dan Johnson

The Bible on display at the Alumni Memorial Union during Mission Week. See below for a full slideshow.

Every day, a Marquette librarian gently turns a page in a heavy volume of the Saint John's Bible, revealing another exquisite artistic interpretation of the Scriptures. The illuminations, embossed with precious metals, leap from the page in a vivid explosion of colors, ranging from the joyful warmth of "Set Me as a Seal Upon Your Heart," from Song of Solomon 6-8, to the angst and chaos of "Out of the Whirlwind," about Job 38-42.

Marquette recently acquired a fine art replica of the handwritten original, which resides at St. John's University in Collegeville, Minn. Nearly 500 people marveled over Marquette's volumes when they were unveiled during Mission Week.

A 13-year, $4 million project, the original Saint John's Bible was commissioned by St. John's Abbey. Donald Jackson, senior scribe in Queen Elizabeth II's Crown Office in London, proposed the idea to the Benedictines as a "third-millennium project," to share the Bible with today's generation in a way that would blend medieval techniques with a modern perspective.

"The Benedictines did not want a 'new' medieval Bible emphasizing laws and kings, but a Bible for the 21st century, highlighting passages about compassion, the role of women, and the need for social justice," says Matt Blessing, archivist with the Department of Special Collections and University Archives in Raynor Memorial Libraries.

Such a monumental undertaking — hand-writing 1,150 pages with 160 illuminations — hadn't been attempted since the invention of moveable type.

Here are some other facts about the ambitious project and the replica's new home on Marquette's campus.

• With Jackson as art director, five scribes and six artists from around the world — who came from different faith traditions — meticulously crafted the original. The group used calfskin vellum; hand-cut goose quills; paints ground from minerals and stone, including lapis lazuli, vermilion and malachite; and silver, copper and 24-karat gold leaf.

• Jackson designed a lighter-weight script for Psalms, underscoring the melodic and poetic nature of the work, according to writer Christopher Calderhead.
  

• The illuminators often used gold to symbolize God, while silver embellishments represent God's female attributes, according to Susan Sink's book, The Art of the Saint John's Bible.

• Illustrations of insects and plants native to Minnesota fill the margins of many pages.

• There's no "delete" key in a handmade piece, so the scribes and illuminators followed the medieval transition of corrections, using a razor-sharp knife to scrape away small mistakes. When an entire line was missed, it was added back in with a whimsical illustration, such as a bee hoisting the forgotten line with a pulley.

• The Bible will be permanently displayed in the Raynor's Prucha Archives Reading Room. Marquette's custom-made, oak and walnut display case was handcrafted by monks using lumber harvested from the arboretum at St. John's. The Welsh oak accents came from Jackson's own estate.

• Marquette has the first four volumes of the seven-volume set and will receive the others as they become available.

• The work dazzled even Pope Benedict XVI, who exclaimed, "This is a work of art ... this is a great work of art ... this is a work for eternity."

See photos of the Saint John's Bible on display during the Mission Week festivities: