Copy of Bible at BYU shows 13th-century life

PROVO — As millions of Christian parents around the world open the Bible on Christmas Eve to share the story of Jesus' birth with their children, they'll be following in the footsteps of at least one French queen, who is said to have commissioned creation of an illustrated Bible to teach her son the meaning of scripture in the 13th century.

As might be expected, the result was a large and lavishly illustrated three-volume set that incorporated so much hand-painting and gold leaf that its creators could only do their work on one side of the animal-skin parchment that was used as paper for each page. Now, a facsimile of the Bible of St. Louis is on display at Brigham Young University, which recently acquired copies of the hefty texts from a Spanish publishing house specializing in historic reproductions.

Visitors to the university's Special Collections section of the Harold B. Lee Library will see illustrated medallions picturing the Nativity within the Moralized Bible of St. Louis' New Testament volume, now on display as part of an exhibit, "For Thou Hast Found Favor With God," which includes other early textual illustrations of the story of Christ's birth. The display runs through December, though library hours vary during the holiday season.

Jesse Hurlbut, associate professor of French medieval literature and culture, said BYU's facsimile of what has been dubbed the "moralized Bible" was acquired after he approached the dean of his own college and then talked with other schools on campus about the benefit to students, faculty and researchers seeking to better understand how 13th century monks understood the biblical canon.

At the time, church leaders and royalty were the only people with ready access to the Bible, as the printing press had yet to be invented and clergy believed they alone were to be the interpreters of scripture. As such, their views influenced not only daily life for commoners but also created the mental images from which painters, sculptors, cathedral builders and other artisans fashioned both the European cathedrals and the religious art that filled them.

"Art historians study these Bibles extensively," he said, pointing to the details of individual medallions on the book's pages that show in vivid and colorful detail the 13th century understanding of heaven, hell, angels and devils, as well as well-known figures from Bible stories, including Moses, Abraham and Isaac, Daniel and Jesus Christ.