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Ancient techniques bring Bible to life
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| Donald Jackson with Matthew Page, Donald Jackson, Copyright 2000 The Saint John’s Bible and the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library, St. John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota, USA. Users of this photo are requested to send a copy of their publication to: Linda Orzechowski, Hill Museum & Manuscript Library, St John’s University, PO Box 7333, Collegeville, MN 56321. (USA06DJ-2.JPG) |
UNITED STATES — “I asked the Brethren at Saint John’s: ‘Do you want it? Do you want to make the Word of God live on a page?’ And they came back and said, ‘We want it.’ That’s why I’m creating The Saint John’s Bible.”
This is how Welsh calligrapher Donald Jackson explains the background to a visionary project which is reviving the ancient tradition of Bible illumination.
Two feet tall
Commissioned by Saint John’s Abbey and University in Minnesota in 1998, Mr Jackson and his team are using medieval techniques to write and illuminate seven volumes of biblical texts: the Gospels and Acts, the Pentateuch, Psalms, Prophets, Wisdom Literature, Historical Books and Letters and Revelation. When it is completed in late 2007, The Saint John’s Bible will be just over two feet tall and consist of almost 1,100 calfskin pages.
Calligraphy
Although using the ancient art of calligraphy, the project also has a firmly contemporary approach. Layout and design work are being carried out on a computer, and the Bible translation selected by theologians and scholars at Saint John’s University is the New Revised Standard Version, which benefits from being both modern and having the approval of most major Christian Churches. The 60 illuminations, too, are being developed according to guidelines which reflect today’s multicultural world and latest developments in science and technology.
For Mr Jackson, this project is the fulfilment of a long-held ambition. “The Bible is the calligraphic artist’s supreme challenge,” he says. “I realise now that this is the thing I have been preparing for all my life.” And The Saint John’s Bible is set to ignite many more people’s spiritual imagination, too, through a touring exhibition of items including original pages from the first three completed volumes, process sketches and tools from Mr Jackson’s scriptorium.