At the dawn of the twenty-first century, Saint John’s Abbey and University seek to ignite the spiritual imagination of believers throughout the world by commissioning a work of art that illuminates the Word of God for a new millennium.  The Saint John’s Bible will be the first commissioned handwritten, monumental, illuminated Bible in the modern era.

The Saint John’s Bible is being created by a group of scribes and artists in a Scriptorium in Wales under the artistic direction of Donald Jackson, one of the world’s foremost calligraphers and Senior Scribe to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s Crown Office at the House of Lords.  When completed in 2009, all the books of the Old and New Testaments will be presented in seven large scale volumes, and they will have a permanent home at Saint John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minnesota.

The Saint John’s Bible is incorporating many of the characteristics of its medieval predecessors: it is being written on vellum, using quills, natural handmade inks, hand ground pigments and gild such as gold leaf, silver leaf and platinum.  And yet, it is employing the modern, English translation the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) as well as contemporary scripts and illumination.  It truly is a Bible for our times. 

The collection of prints on exhibition in this gallery are taken from the five completed volumes of The Saint John’s Bible: Pentateuch, Psalms, Prophets, Wisdom Books and Gospels and Acts.

Visit www.sjbible.org