The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of September 1, 2024
![Fol. 20v, Exodus, historiated initial H, Moses and two followers with the tablets of the law](https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=8570C759C82814703777FA1353B0B4BDEA747026BC582BCD3341CF7C19F289FD&s=24247294&se=1005458440&v=2&f=2008.2.20.b_o2.jpg)
Fol. 20v, Exodus, historiated initial H, Moses and two followers with the tablets of the law
c. 1275–1300
Overall: 35.6 x 24.2 cm (14 x 9 1/2 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 2008.2.20.b
Location: not on view
Description
Biblical manuscripts were highly prized and important possessions of churches, monasteries, cathedral schools, and universities throughout medieval Europe. The biblical texts were known as the vulgate, the translations made by Saint Jerome in the fourth century from Hebrew and Greek into Latin, which became the definitive and official Latin version of the Roman Church. In the 13th century, the bible was, for the first time, produced as a single volume with an officially sanctioned sequence to its books and chapters as illustrated by this example. The very extensive decoration of this bible is arranged hierarchically to indicate the relative importance of the various texts so that full or almost full-page initials mark the openings of the first prologue, Genesis, and the first Gospel; historiated initials mark the beginning of each book and illuminated initials mark the Prologues.- {{cite web|title=Fol. 20v, Exodus, historiated initial H, Moses and two followers with the tablets of the law|url=false|author=|year=c. 1275–1300|access-date=01 September 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2008.2.20.b