Trinity Apocalypse

Trinity Apocalypse – Faksimile Verlag – MS.R.16.2 – Trinity College (Cambridge, United Kingdom)

Northern France or England β€” 1242–1260

A major work from the transitional period between Romanesque and Gothic, created for a mysterious unknown woman: John's apocalyptic vision in a pictorial treasure of 71 miniatures enhanced with fine gold leaf

  1. This magnificent apocalypse from the transitional period between Romanesque and Gothic is considered a major work of its time

  2. Intense reds and blues are emblazoned by fine gold leaf in the 71 miniatures

  3. A distinguished lady – possibly the patron – continually resurfaces throughout the imagery

Trinity Apocalypse

MS.R.16.2 Trinity College Library Cambridge (Cambridge, United Kingdom)
Facsimile Copy Available!
Price Category: €€
(1,000€ - 3,000€)
  1. Description
  2. Detail Picture
  3. Single Page
  4. Facsimile Editions (1)
Description
Trinity Apocalypse

The Trinity Apocalypse is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful and precious surviving Apocalypse manuscripts and represents a major work from the exciting transitional period between Romanesque and Gothic book art. Two of the four illuminators involved were still adhering to a late English Romanesque style, while the other two were already working in the new French Gothic style. Together, they created a pictorial treasure of 71 magnificent miniatures, some of which are full-page, consisting of over 100 individual images in golden frames. The mesmerizing depictions of John of Patmos' end-time vision in the last book of the Bible shine in vibrant red, deep blue, and precious gold. This splendor was probably created for the unknown noblewoman who is repeatedly depicted at the edge of the miniatures. Particularly noteworthy, however, is the text layout, in which the French translation of the Book of Revelation is framed by a commentary on the life and work of its author, John of Patmos.

Trinity Apocalypse

The apocalypse manuscript named after its repository in Cambridge has come up with a pictorial treasure that is without equal. In over 100 pictures, the Revelation of John about the end of the world and the Day of Judgement is portrayed in wonderful colorful, richly detailed miniatures. The magnificent Trinity Apocalypse, which was created for an unknown commissioner, can be classified stylistically in the English artistic landscape, but simultaneously exhibits French-Gothic characteristics.

Wondrous Stories in Luminous Colors

Pandemonium rules the scenes: a black sun, a red moon, leaning and collapsing towers, flying waves, a horde of scared people. A single man standing on the left margin observes the wild events before a dark blue night’s sky in utter silence. The mysterious Revelation of John about the end of the world and the accompanying Day of Judgement with events that are equally joyous and frightening uses drastic and powerful imagery. The apocalypse was an especially popular theme for manuscripts in 13th century England. In the Trinity Apocalypse, which according to recent research originates from sometime after 1250, the artists succeed in creating a particularly impressive illustration of John’s tales. In 71 miniatures with over 100 individual pictures, the four illuminators, who can be differentiated from one another stylistically, portray approximately every passage of the book in a stylistic depiction. In doing so, the bizarre images are intensified with powerful colors, especially red and blue, and richly employed, often finely engraved gold. In a rectangular, gold framed image field, the mostly multi-figured scenes find their respective place. In doing so, not even the smallest fleck is free of decorative ornamentation.

A Masterwork of Anglo-Saxon Book Art

The commission of the apocalypse manuscript is unexplained. Stylistically, the artistic design, seconded by the distinctly linear style, can be placed in either England or Northern France. With regard to the artists, two can obviously be characterized as late English Romanesque, the other two are already Gothic and more likely French. The French language is also another peculiarity of the Trinity Apocalypse: the text is a specific French translation from Latin.
An exciting detail, that always bothers the scholarship, is the distinguished lady, which constantly resurfaces in some of the miniatures. Some want to see the English Queen Eleanor, the wife of King Henry III in her. The very hypothetical connection to her would make the splendid and highly artistic design of the manuscript plausible.
The design of the Trinity Apocalypse offers yet another innovation. On 11 pages of the precious manuscript, the text of Revelation of John is framed by the narration of his life story. This layout principle is based on gloss manuscripts of the time and can subsequently be observed more frequently in Apocalypse manuscripts. Thus, the magnificently colored and expressive miniatures and the vision they illuminate are closely linked to the life and work of their author, the prophet John of Patmos.

Codicology

Alternative Titles
Trinity College Apocalypse
Trinity-Apokalypse
Size / Format
64 pages / 43.5 Γ— 32.0 cm
Origin
France
Date
1242–1260
Language
Script
Textura rotunda
Illustrations
More than 100 individual pictures in 71 large-format miniatures, 9 of which are full-page, and numerous pen-flourish initials
Patron
Eleanore of Provence, the wife of King Henry III (?)
Previous Owners
Anne Sadlier
Ralph Brownrigg, Bishop of Exeter (1592–1649)

Available facsimile editions:
Trinity Apocalypse – Faksimile Verlag – MS.R.16.2 – Trinity College (Cambridge, United Kingdom)
Faksimile Verlag – Lucerne, 2004
Limited Edition: 980 copies
Detail Picture

Trinity Apocalypse

Satan Imprisoned for 1,000 Years

John narrates on the left: β€œThen I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.” (Rev. 20:1-3)

Trinity Apocalypse – Faksimile Verlag – MS.R.16.2 – Trinity College (Cambridge, United Kingdom)
Single Page

Trinity Apocalypse

The Lamb on Mount Zion

β€œAnd I looked and lo, a Lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with Him a hundred forty and four thousand, having His Father’s name written in their foreheads…And they sang, as it were, a new song before the throne, and before the four living beings and the elders; and no man could learn that song, except the hundred and forty and four thousand who were redeemed from the earth” (Rev. 14:1,3)

This grand three-quarter-page miniature depicts the multitudes of the faithful, the first to be saved. Brilliantly burnished gold attracts one’s attention to the empty throne surrounded by the Evangelist symbols. Christ has yet to appear, and the elders, depicted as kings, look and gesture to one another with anticipation. John, the narrator, appears in the left margin.

Trinity Apocalypse – Faksimile Verlag – MS.R.16.2 – Trinity College (Cambridge, United Kingdom)
Facsimile Editions

#1 Trinity-Apocalypse

Faksimile Verlag – Lucerne, 2004

Publisher: Faksimile Verlag – Lucerne, 2004
Limited Edition: 980 copies
Binding: The fine art facsimile is protected by a white cover of goat leather embossed with gold, masterly executed by the bookbinder. The front and back cover is decorated with the coat of arms of the English royal family. To protect the facsimile edition, it is furnished with an acrylic slip case.
Commentary: 1 volume (393 pages) by David McKitterick, Nigel Morgan, Ian Shor and Teresa Webber
Languages: English, German
Facsimile Copy Available!
Price Category: €€
(1,000€ - 3,000€)
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