The Douce Apocalypse is an illuminated manuscript of the

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Bible#Christian Bible, Christian Bible. Written in Greek language, Greek, ...

, dating from the third quarter of the 13th century, preserved in the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...

under the reference Douce 180. The manuscript contains 97 miniatures. It has been called "one of the glories of English thirteenth-century painting".

History

The manuscript contains in its first

historiated initial In a written or published work, an initial is a letter at the beginning of a word, a chapter, or a paragraph that is larger than the rest of the text. The word is ultimately derived from the Latin ''initiālis'', which means ''of the beginning ...

two characters, a knight and a lady kneeling in prayer before the Trinity and bearing the arms of two sponsors of the manuscript: Edward, Prince of Wales and future

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 ...

, and his wife,

Eleanor of Castile Eleanor of Castile (1241 – 28 November 1290) was Queen of England as the first wife of Edward I. She was educated at the Castilian court and also ruled as Countess of Ponthieu in her own right () from 1279. After diplomatic efforts to s ...

. The work was carried out in successive stages between 1254, the date of their marriage, and 1272, when the prince acceded to the throne. On stylistic and other grounds a more precise date of between 1265 and 1270 has been proposed. The manuscript was made in Westminster, or perhaps Canterbury. No later owner is identified until the 19th century, when it was put up for sale at

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

by William Wilson in 1833. It was acquired the same year by

Francis Douce Francis Douce ( ; 175730 March 1834) was a British antiquary and museum curator. Biography Douce was born in London. His father was a clerk in Chancery. After completing his education he entered his father's office, but soon quit it to devote h ...

, who left his collection to the Bodleian Library at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

on his death in 1834.

Description

The manuscript is composed of two parts. The first (ff. 1–12) contains an incomplete text of the Book of Revelation in

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th [2-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...

, including anonymous comments without miniatures and a large historiated initial at the beginning. The second (ff. 13^r–61^r) contains the same text in Latin with comments taken from those traditionally attributed to Berengaudus. This second part contains 97 miniatures, each occupying half a page. It remains unfinished, with some of the miniatures still in draft form. The style of the miniatures is directly inspired by that current at the time of Saint Louis in Paris. It may have been made in the same workshop as the manuscript of the Apocalypse of the Bibliothèque nationale de France MS Lat. 10474. Three slightly different styles are distinguishable, suggesting that three artists may have been responsible. The binding of the manuscript, dating from the 1580s, is of gold-stamped leather over pasteboard.

Citations

External links

{{Commons category, Douce Apocalypse - Bodleian Ms180 13th-century illuminated manuscripts Bodleian Library collection Book of Revelation Illuminated biblical manuscripts
Catalogue description and full fascimile
at the Digital Bodleian site