St. John's Bible Features Hand-Drawn Images, Calligraphy; Apostles Edition To Be Gifted To The Morgan Library And Museum

In 1970, Donald Jackson told Barbara Walters that it was his dream to handwrite the entire Bible. About 12 years ago, the world-renowned calligraphic artist was given the opportunity to realize that dream.

Minnesota's St. John's Abbey and University commissioned Jackson to create the 2-foot tall, 3-foot wide St. John's Bible, featuring biblical scripture and images of mankind's accomplishments throughout the last 500 years. (Scroll for images.)

The St. John's Bible was a 15-year collaboration among various artists. Completed in May, the finished piece features 1,150 pages of hand-drawn illustrations, elegant scripture and gold leaf.

The first words were written on Ash Wednesday in 2000. Several historic events, such as Sept. 11 and the recent earthquake in Japan, have been artistically incorporated into the illustrations.

"Ten years ago, a short time after 9/11, I was working on an illumination of 'The Prodigal Son' in Gospel and Acts Volume. It carries a message of God’s power and willingness to forgive the unforgivable. Without realizing, I found myself weaving an image of the Twin Towers into the design, thinking 'Hard as it is, you’ve got to love your way out of this one you can’t hate your way out of it,'" Jackson told The Huffington Post in an email.

Under Jackson's direction, a team of scholars, theologians, artists and calligraphers from Minnesota and Wales worked together to complete the project. The scriptures were written using quills from goose or swan feathers, the Associated Press reports.

“When you use a quill, because it is a delicate instrument, and it picks up you — I mean as you write, every breath you take, (every) heartbeat, just like a musical instrument, it goes into that,” Jackson told Matt Lauer during his interview on "Today".

The purpose of the St. John's Bible is to bring the Word of God to today's population in a way they've never seen it before. Reproductions of the Bible can be viewed at more than 40 establishments throughout the world. The piece is the only "handwritten and illuminated Bible commissioned by a Benedictine Monastery since the advent of the printing press more than 500 years ago," according to the press release about the St. John's Bible.

The Bible is currently on display at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in Minnesota through Nov. 13, according to the Associated Press. An Apostles Edition of the Bible has been presented to the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City.

Comments

[stupid humans]

04:24 PM on 10/22/2011

ever heard of photoshop? :)
hang on let get my 14th century techniques out......
illuminated manuscripts it isn't
a bible comic it is .

[speedy evans]

09:38 AM on 10/22/2011

i have to admit it look better than that old KJV one that i got for x-mas.thanks st john who ever you are

[rjhuntington]

04:43 PM on 10/21/2011

"I found myself weaving an image of the Twin Towers into the design, thinking 'Hard as it is, you’ve got to love your way out of this one you can’t hate your way out of it,'"

He's right about that.

[roy brophy]

06:33 AM on 10/21/2011

"ST. PAUL, Minn. - A settlement has been reached with St. John's Abbey in nine alleged sexual abuse cases involving 10 monks or priests at St. John’s Prep in Collegeville, Minn.

The alleged abuse occurred between the 1960s and 2004.The accused clergy all taught at St. John's Preparatory School or were assigned to parishes, attorney Jeff Anderson told The Associated Press."

I think the money spent on this pretty book should have gone to care for the children these Priest and Monks raped.

[CMR64]

06:10 AM on 10/21/2011

how beautiful ...

[gemmax]

10:04 PM on 11/08/2011

I agree it is beautiful and we sure need some beauty in this world. This took an amazing amount of work and patience. God's word though was sure worth the cost to him. Coincidentally, my last blog post at http://gaylesbloominblog.blogspot.com was about the Bible and the Word of God. There is so much talk from non believers in these forums regarding what they claim to believe is just a 'dusty' old book, that I started thinking about the Bible and praying for insight into God's Word. I finished the post knowing more than when I started. I hope to continue on this subject for a while. I would love to have a copy of the above...:0)

[FrancisKing]

05:16 AM on 10/21/2011

I'm wondering if they're going to sell copies of it to the public. Quite a few people would want a copy of it.

[Treehuggindirtworshiper]

05:07 PM on 10/20/2011

I find it quite funny that some non-believers go out of their way to criticize anything that has to do with Christianity. But when it comes to other faiths they are quite tolerant. This is a remarkable work of art. For that reason alone it deserves respect as do the artisans that created it.

[djekizian]

08:49 PM on 10/20/2011

I agree and I'm an atheist.

[Treehuggindirtworshiper]

10:15 PM on 10/20/2011

Thank you.

[stupid humans]

04:25 PM on 10/22/2011

I find a lot of things funny....

[Mountaingrl]

10:57 AM on 10/20/2011

Beautiful!

[slimdave420]

10:02 AM on 10/20/2011

congrats on wasting 12 years of your life. next up illustrating more children's books.

[brooklyncitizen]

08:25 PM on 10/20/2011

YEAH/
Think how much time all the Renaissance artists wasted...that Michelangelo and tha Sistine chapel...gawd.

(eye roll)

[FrancisKing]

05:13 AM on 10/21/2011

"On the sixth day of creation, God created man, and then he said, 'Blow this, I've just wasted six days on this nonsense'. And on the seventh day he rested."

[Marcel Serraillier]

08:37 AM on 10/20/2011

My friend gave me an illustrated book ; he said it was like a bible. I loved it. Then somebody said it was the Kama Sutra not the Bible....

[Gregor53]

09:16 AM on 10/20/2011

and then what?

[FrancisKing]

05:15 AM on 10/21/2011

What bothers me more is - did they ask the vicar about it?

[busterggi]

03:38 PM on 10/20/2011

The Kama Sutra is nothing more than origami instructions using meat.

[sunshine14]

04:03 AM on 10/20/2011

God is beautiful His magnificent work of art is all around us.

[Kelley Smith]

01:36 AM on 10/20/2011

This is absolutely beautiful. I patiently await the accompanying iPad or Android apps that capture this magnificent work of art. Thank you to all who created this work.

[nlightenup]

11:20 PM on 10/19/2011

I have a fondness for fountain pens, and among FP aficionados, Donald Jackson has rock star status. I have one of his out of print books, The Story of Writing. Absolutely gorgeous!

[Inannawhimsey]

09:44 PM on 10/19/2011

That's beautiful. I love it how people can take something and make it their own, build on it, riff on it :3

[ManuOB1]

08:21 PM on 10/19/2011

I saw the St. John's Bible four years ago. It's worth making the pilgrimage to see it!