Cover
story Artists use ancient crafts, modern technology
Collegeville, Minn.
When the Benedictines of San Vito in Pisa commissioned an enormous
manuscript Bible in October 1168, the townspeople wanted to help with the huge
cost of purchasing parchment and of hiring a professional scribe and several
illuminators for the task. Some 60 people, a carpenter, baker and two fishermen
among them, donated sums ranging from three pence to 32 shillings to complete
the project. The manuscript still survives.
Eight centuries later, the Benedictines at St. Johns Abbey
and University here have commissioned a folio-sized handwritten, illuminated
Bible and are welcoming donations.
In an age of instant communication, theres something
paradoxical and very countercultural about taking six years to create a
handwritten Bible, said Rob Culligan, vice president for institutional
advancement at St. Johns.
Such a project is not an indictment of modern technology, Culligan
told NCR. Without a computer-generated exemplar, desktop publishing,
digital photography, faxes and the Internet to carry artwork and text between
the scriptorium in Wales and the patrons in Collegeville, there would be no St.
Johns Bible.
Minnesotans and others have rallied to support the endeavor, its
cost estimated at $4 million. Some 340 donors, many of them foundations, have
contributed $2.5 million so far.
Donors can sponsor a single verse for less than $1,000. A $1,000
gift buys a page of text, $2,500 a quarter-page illumination, $5,000 a
third-of-a-page illumination and $10,000 a full-page illumination.
Donors who want to underwrite one of the Bibles 73 books can
do so for a $25,000 to $50,000 gift. A full volume of the seven-volume work
costs $250,000. Contributors will have their name inscribed in an eighth
volume: The Book of Honor.
Before the Bible comes home to St. Johns in 2006, the 150th
anniversary of the abbey and school, parts of it will tour the world, starting
at the Minneapolis Institute of Art in October 2003. The following year new
volumes are expected to premier in museums in New York, Chicago, Detroit and
Seattle, and later in London, Paris, Wales and the Vatican. Each exhibition
will showcase new pages, Culligan said.
Calligrapher Donald Jackson, artistic director and the
Bibles main scribe, has long envisioned a display of the full Bible with
one volume in the center, flanked by three others on each side. The manuscript
book, displayed open, would resemble a series of peacocks fanning their tails,
he said.
Already the project has sparked the interest of children, who have
responded to Jacksons suggestion that everyone write out or draw their
favorite Bible passage by hand. You will be amazed at how meaningful it
will become for you, the calligrapher said. Drawings by children can be
seen on the Web site: saintjohnsbible.org
Besides encouraging children to love the Bible, the projects
planners hope to create a variety of educational programs at all levels. The
Benedictines who commissioned the Bible envision it as a resource for scholars,
artists and adults seeking personal enrichment, as well as for programs offered
through churches and synagogues.
Copies of the Bible in various formats will be published after its
completion.
Weve decided to take six years to produce this work of
beauty, Culligan said. We want people to look at every word and
every page; we want them to savor it, not speed read it.
--Patricia Lefevere
National Catholic Reporter, June 1,
2001
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