id: 160810 accession number: 1999.122 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1999.122 updated: 2023-03-15 15:46:34.655000 Leaf from a Bible: Initial E: Entwined Lions and Serpents (1 of 2 Excised Leaves), c. 1225–50. England, Glastonbury(?), 13th century. Tempera and ink on vellum; sheet: 20 x 15 cm (7 7/8 x 5 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection 1999.122 title: Leaf from a Bible: Initial E: Entwined Lions and Serpents (1 of 2 Excised Leaves) title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1225–50 creation date earliest: 1220 creation date latest: 1255 current location: creditline: The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection copyright: --- culture: England, Glastonbury(?), 13th century technique: tempera and ink on vellum department: Medieval Art collection: MED - Manuscript Illuminations type: Manuscript find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Sheet: 20 x 15 cm (7 7/8 x 5 7/8 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection of Manuscript Illuminations opening date: 1999-12-19T00:00:00 The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection of Manuscript Illuminations. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 19, 1999-February 27, 2000). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Glastonbury Abbey, England (purportedly) date: footnotes: citations: Roger Gale (1672-1744), Yorkshire, England date: footnotes: citations: [Sale: Sotheby's London, 22 June 1982, lot 47] date: June 22, 1982 footnotes: citations: [Bruce Ferrini, Akron, OH, sold to Jeanne Miles Blackburn] date: footnotes: citations: Jeanne Miles Blackburn, Durham, NC, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: -1999 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1999- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: The museum owns another leaf from this same bible, 2011.52. digital description: wall description: This pair of leaves from the same one-volume Bible have been traditionally associated with the Benedictine Abbey of Glastonbury in southwest England. It is known that the Bible once belonged to the English antiquary and collector, Roger Gale (1672–1744), whose library of 450 manuscripts once included two of the surviving 35 books from Glastonbury Abbey. Until its dissolution in 1539, Glastonbury was one of the greatest and wealthiest abbeys in Europe. Given its vast wealth and the recorded library lists, the abbey must have been a substantial patron of the arts. However, only a few illuminated manuscripts can now be positively identified as Glastonbury work. --- RELATED WORKS id: 169736 Initial I: Entwined Beast and Serpent: Leaf from a Bible (2 of 2 Excised Leaves), c. 1225-1250. England, Glastonbury?, 13th century. Tempera and ink on vellum; leaf: 20 x 15.2 cm (7 7/8 x 6 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection 2011.52 relationship: id: None None relationship: --- CITATIONS Sotheby's (Firm). Western Manuscripts and Miniatures. 1982. page number: lot 47 url: Fliegel, Stephen N. The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection of Manuscript Illuminations. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999. page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 13, cat. no. 3 url: https://archive.org/details/BlackburnIlluminations/page/n25 --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1999.122/1999.122_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1999.122/1999.122_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1999.122/1999.122_full.tif