The first Bible to be written and illuminated entirely by hand since the invention of movable type more than 500 years ago will be on display next month at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond — the first time the unusual work of art has been exhibited in Virginia.
The seven-volume St. John’s Bible is the work of six calligraphers and six artists initiated by St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn., in the late 1990s. Replicating the process used by monks in the Middle Ages to create illuminated Bibles, the calligraphers handwrote the 1,150 pages on sheets of vellum, using quills of large flight feathers from geese, turkeys and swans. A rare 19th-century Chinese black ink was used for the calligraphy. The artists mixed pigments such as vermillion and lapis lazuli with water and egg yolks, and applied gold leaf, silver and platinum to create 160 vibrant illuminations.
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