‘Important and beautiful' 13th-century Bible returns to Salisbury

The Guardian

14-02-2025

Almost eight centuries after it was crafted in a workshop in Salisbury, the Sarum Master Bible, a vividly illustrated medieval manuscript, has returned home and will go on display at the city's cathedral this month.
Measuring just 17cm by 11.5cm, the book is an early example of a portable Bible, the Latin script so small it can be can be challenge to read and the parchment so thin that the pages have to be turned with extreme care.
The Bible was created by a man or woman known as the Sarum master or Sarum illuminator (Sarum is an early name for Salisbury) almost certainly for a wealthy individual.
Anne Dutton, Salisbury Cathedral librarian, said the book was of great artistic value with huge significance to Salisbury. Over the centuries it had always been in private hands, she said, only making brief public appearances in the sale rooms of auction houses and art dealers and never going on public display.
The Bible was bought last year from its previous owner by the charity Friends of the Nations' Libraries, which raised £90,000 and donated it to the cathedral.
Dutton said the Sarum master was one of the greatest artists of the time, a manuscript illuminator working in the 1240s and 1250s with between five and seven surviving manuscripts attributed to them.
'In some of these manuscripts,' Dutton said, 'including our Bible, it is clear that the Sarum master is working with several assistants. This indicates the existence of a workshop. There may have been three or more artists, but it's not clear.'
Each book of the Sarum Master Bible begins with an intricate decorated initial. Some are ornamental; others contain human figures, frequently illustrating scenes and characters from the Bible. The initials use a rich colour palette, including a distinctive green.
The work is a copy of the Vulgate Bible, which was translated into Latin by St Jerome. It contains prefaces to many of the books of the Bible, written by St Jerome and other early theologians.
It is not known who the book was made for. Dutton said: 'The volume is clearly intended for private use. It's too small to have been intended to be used in church services. It's an expensive book, and would have been commissioned by a wealthy individual.'
There was a great deal of artistic activity in Salisbury in the 13th century. The cathedral was under construction and was being decorated with wall-painting, ceiling-painting, sculpture and stained glass. It is likely that the different artists working in the city including the Sarum master drew inspiration from and influenced each other.
The dean of Salisbury, the Very Rev Nicholas Papadopulos: 'It is thrilling to welcome this important and beautiful manuscript back to Salisbury and to share it with our many visitors to the cathedral.'
The Sarum Master Bible will go on display at Salisbury Cathedral from 28 February to 20 March.