Apocalypse of Lambeth Palace
The 13th century Apocalypse of Lambeth Palace distinguishes itself through its combination of splendid miniatures in the main body and pen drawings in the appendix. The Latin manuscript from London probably originated at the behest of Eleanor de Quincy (d. 1274), the daughter of William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby (1200–1254) or his wife Margaret de Ferrers (d. 1281). The text of the Book of Revelation as well as excerpts from the Berengaudus Commentary are to be found on 112 pages illustrated with 78- full-page miniatures with 23 karat gold backgrounds and 28 pen drawings. With its pedagogical intention, the Apocalypse offers the reader visual support for understanding the Biblical content.
Apocalypse of Lambeth Palace
An exceptionally attractive combination of colored pen drawings and magnificent miniatures is offered by the Apocalypse of Lambeth Palace, which originated in England between 1260 and 1270. On 112 pages, the Latin manuscript from London presents the Book of Revelation as well as excerpts from the late–11th century Berengaudus Commentary. The reader is given visual support for understanding John’s Biblical vision with a total of 78 framed, half-page miniatures with 23 karat gold backgrounds and 28 pen drawings.
A Manuscript with Pedagogical Value
Who it was that commissioned work on the Apocalypse cannot be said for certain. It was either Eleanor de Quncy (d. 1274) the daughter of William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby (1200–1254) or his wife Margaret de Ferrers (d. 1281). The purpose of the manuscript was to be simultaneously pedagogical and entertaining. It was meant to educate the reader and transmit an understanding of the biblical text. The depiction of the Whore of Babylon appears to indicate a female recipient. The aristocratic lady with the devil’s cup in her hands stands on a seven-headed beast and is understood to be a warning against vanity and luxury.
Interesting Page Layout
The rectangular miniatures are always found above the two-columned text, which is almost always framed by ornamental lines in blue and red ink. Golden filigree ornaments join in, decorating the fascinating calligraphic script. This composition was particularly common in English illuminated manuscripts with hagiographic content, but also for the Apocalypses of the 12th century, e.g. the St. Alban’s Psalter or the Winchester Bible.
Red and Blue as Apocalyptic Colors
One is struck by the generous use of the colors red and blue. Together, the luminous tones create an apocalyptic atmosphere in the sometimes gruesome scenes from the story of the end of days. The primarily golden background creates a brilliant contrast to both of the colors and backlights the pictures with its heavenly glory. Additionally, each miniature is invested like a small painting and is surrounded by a simple frame of mostly blue or red.
Artful Appendix
The Apocalypse of Lambeth Palace was furnished between 1265 and 1267 with an artful appendix, which is significantly different from the rest of the décor. The last section does not contain miniatures but rather full-page colored pen drawings illustrating saints and other legends. These are also framed, provided that the depictions do not always abide within the borders and occasionally break free of them. It is likely that this later section was added and adapted with didactic drawings according to the demands and beliefs of the owner.
Codicology
- Alternative Titles
- Lambeth-Apokalypse
- Size / Format
- 112 pages / 27.2 × 19.6 cm
- Origin
- France
- Date
- 1260–1270
- Style
- Genre
- Language
- Script
- Gothic Textura
- Illustrations
- 78 half-page miniatures and 28 full-page colored drawings
- Content
- The Revelation of St. John, excerpts from the Berengaudus commentary (late 11th century)
- Patron
- Possibly Eleanor (1274), daughter of William Ill, Earl Ferrers of Derby (1200–1254), and wife of the Earl of Winchester. Or Margaret Ferrers (1281), wife of William Ill, Earl Ferrers of Derby
- Previous Owners
- In the 17th century, the Apocalypse was in the library of the Archbishops of Canterbury. From 1648 to 1664 it was temporarily in the Cambridge university library.
Apocalypse of Lambeth Palace
Martyrdom of King Edmund of East Anglia
Although the image of a man tied to a tree being shot with arrows makes one think of St. Sebastian, King Edmund of East Anglia also died this way. In 869, the Great Heathen Army conquered his kingdom of East Anglia and Edmund was captured by the Danes. After refusing to denounce Christ, he was beaten, shot with arrows, and beheaded by the famous Viking leaders Ivar the Boneless and his brother Ubba. According to legend, searchers were able to find his head thanks to the cries of an ethereal wolf.

Apocalypse of Lambeth Palace
John Receives his Commission on Patmos
According to legend, the author of the Book of Revelation was visited by an angel while banished to the Greek Island of Patmos. The angel delivering this vision to John hangs in the air before a timeless and spaceless burnished gold background holding a banderole saying: “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches of Asia.”
John is depicted reclining with his eyes closed, the island shaped as though it were a couch, and his toga’s stylized fall of folds reveals the shape of his long legs. Rather than depicting the seven churches of Asia and their corresponding Roman provinces, Christendom is depicted here as four islands. A ship is anchored offshore in the swirling green waters waiting to carry his work oversees.

#1 Lambeth-Apokalypse (Deluxe-Edition)
Languages: German
#2 Lambeth-Apokalypse (Standard Edition)
Languages: German
- Treatises / Secular Books
- Apocalypses / Beatus
- Astronomy / Astrology
- Bestiaries
- Bibles / Gospels
- Chronicles / History / Law
- Geography / Maps
- Saints' Lives
- Islam / Oriental
- Judaism / Hebrew
- Single Leaf Collections
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Literature / Poetry
- Liturgical Manuscripts
- Medicine / Botany / Alchemy
- Music
- Mythology / Prophecies
- Psalters
- Other Religious Books
- Games / Hunting
- Private Devotion Books
- Other Genres
- Afghanistan
- Armenia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Colombia
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Egypt
- Ethiopia
- France
- Germany
- Hungary
- India
- Iran
- Iraq
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Luxembourg
- Mexico
- Morocco
- Netherlands
- Peru
- Poland
- Portugal
- Serbia
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Turkey
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Uzbekistan
- Aboca Museum
- Akademie Verlag
- Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA)
- Aldo Ausilio Editore - Bottega d’Erasmo
- Alecto Historical Editions
- Alkuin Verlag
- Almqvist & Wiksell
- ARS
- Ars Magna
- ArtCodex
- AyN Ediciones
- Azimuth Editions
- Bärenreiter-Verlag
- Belser Verlag
- Belser Verlag / WK Wertkontor
- Bernardinum Wydawnictwo
- BiblioGemma
- Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Vaticanstadt, Vaticanstadt)
- Bibliotheca Palatina Faksimile Verlag
- Bibliotheca Rara
- Boydell & Brewer
- Brepols Publishers
- British Library
- C. Weckesser
- Caixa Catalunya
- Canesi
- CAPSA, Ars Scriptoria
- Caratzas Brothers, Publishers
- Circulo Cientifico
- Club Bibliófilo Versol
- CM Editores
- Collegium Graphicum
- Collezione Apocrifa Da Vinci
- Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses
- Coron Verlag
- CTHS
- D. S. Brewer
- De Agostini/UTET
- De Schutter
- Deuschle & Stemmle
- Deutscher Verlag für Kunstwissenschaft
- DIAMM
- Droz
- E. Schreiber Graphische Kunstanstalten
- Ediciones Boreal
- Ediciones Grial
- Edilan
- Editalia
- Edition Leipzig
- Edition Libri Illustri
- Editiones Reales Sitios S. L.
- Éditions de l'Oiseau Lyre
- Editions Medicina Rara
- Editorial Casariego
- Editorial Mintzoa
- Editrice Antenore
- Edizioni Edison
- Egeria, S.L.
- Eikon Editores
- Electa
- Eos-Verlag
- ET&B
- Eugrammia Press
- Extraordinary Editions
- Facsimile Editions Ltd.
- Facsimilia Art & Edition Ebert KG
- Faksimile Verlag
- Folger Shakespeare Library
- Franco Cosimo Panini Editore
- Fundación Hullera Vasco-Leonesa
- G. Braziller
- Gebr. Mann Verlag
- Giovanni Domenico de Rossi
- Giunti Editore
- Graffiti
- Grafica European Center of Fine Arts
- Guido Pressler
- Guillermo Blazquez
- Helikon
- Henning Oppermann
- Herder Verlag
- Hes & De Graaf Publishers
- Hoepli
- Houghton Library
- Hugo Schmidt Verlag
- Idion Verlag
- Il Bulino, edizioni d'arte
- ILte
- Imago
- Insel Verlag
- Instituto de Estudios Altoaragoneses
- Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia
- Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana - Treccani
- Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato
- J. Thorbecke
- Jugoslavija
- Karl W. Hiersemann
- Kasper Straube
- Kaydeda Ediciones
- Kurt Wolff Verlag
- La Liberia dello Stato
- La Linea Editrice
- La Meta Editore
- Lambert Schneider
- Leo S. Olschki
- Les Incunables
- Libreria Musicale Italiana
- Lichtdruck
- Lumen Artis
- Lund Humphries
- M. Moleiro Editor
- Maison des Sciences de l'homme et de la société de Poitiers
- Manuscriptum
- Maruzen-Yushodo Co. Ltd.
- MASA
- McGraw-Hill
- Militos
- Millennium Liber
- Müller & Schindler
- National Library of Wales
- Nova Charta
- Odeon
- Orbis Mediaevalis
- Orbis Pictus
- Österreichische Staatsdruckerei
- Oxford University Press
- Parzellers Buchverlag
- Patrimonio Ediciones
- PIAF
- Plon-Nourrit et cie
- Prestel Verlag
- Princeton University Press
- Prisma Verlag
- Priuli & Verlucca, editori
- Pro Sport Verlag
- Propyläen Verlag
- Pytheas Books
- Quaternio Verlag Luzern
- Reales Sitios
- Reichert Verlag
- Riehn & Reusch
- Roberto Vattori Editore
- Rosenkilde and Bagger
- Roxburghe Club
- Salerno Editrice
- Sarajevo Svjetlost
- Schöck ArtPrint Kft.
- Scolar Press
- Scrinium
- Scripta Maneant
- Scriptorium
- Siloé, arte y bibliofilia
- SISMEL - Edizioni del Galluzzo
- Sociedad Mexicana de Antropología
- Stainer and Bell
- Styria Verlag
- Sumptibus Pragopress
- Szegedi Tudomànyegyetem
- Tarshish Books
- Taschen
- Tempus Libri
- Testimonio Compañía Editorial
- The Clear Vue Publishing Partnership Limited
- The Facsimile Codex
- The Folio Society
- The Marquess of Normanby
- The Richard III and Yorkist History Trust
- Tip.Le.Co
- TouchArt
- Trident Editore
- Typis Regiae Officinae Polygraphicae
- University of California Press
- University of Chicago Press
- Urs Graf
- Vallecchi
- Van Wijnen
- VCH, Acta Humaniora
- VDI Verlag
- Verlag Styria
- Vicent Garcia Editores
- Wiener Mechitharisten-Congregation (Wien, Österreich)
- Xuntanza Editorial
- Zollikofer AG