Add MS 42555

Content:

Apocalypse in Latin with extracts on alternate pages from a French translation of the Expositio super septem visiones libri Apocalypsis, a commentary by Berengaudus. Begins with a five-line French prologue in red and gold. Incipit (f. 5r): 'Ici comence lapokalipse'. Explicit (f. 5r): 'Karen. muz moz latifent [sic] muz entendemenz. Cest le prologue'. The biblical text is on f. 5r and the versos of ff. 5v-82v. Incipit (f. 5r): 'Apocalipsis ihesu christi quam dedit illi deus palam facere servis suis que oportet fieri cito'. The Berengaudus Commentary is on f. 5v, and the rectos of ff. 6r-10r, the rectos and lower portions of the versos of ff. 11r-14v, and the rectos of ff. 15r-82r. Incipit (f. 5v): 'Apokalipse est entreprete revelaciun'. The biblical text and the Commentary are each divided into five visions (instead of Berengaudus's more usual seven), with the fifth, sixth and seventh visions treated together as one.

Decoration:

156 half-page miniatures (one each, on ff. 5r-82v), in gold and colours, illustrating both the Apocalypse and Berengaudus's Commentary. Frames for illustrations on ff. 2r-v, 83r-84v have been prepared for miniatures that were never added, presumably depicting the life of St John. Preparatory sketches are visible on f. 83r (St John before Domitian) and f. 84v (uncertain subject). An historiated initial on f. 5r of St John writing, inspired by an angel, is accompanied by an illuminated partial border. Rubrics in red and gold. Pen flourishes in gold, red, and blue extend below the text space, in some cases embellished by birds or grotesques. Some scholars have used the depiction of architectural details like those on f. 26r to date this manuscript on the basis that the naturalistic ivy leaf that surmounts the gable was first used at Notre Dame in Paris after about 1260, and first appears in England in the chapter houses of York Minster and Southwell Minster after about 1270.

The subjects of the images are:

f. 5r: St John sleeps with his head supported in one hand, a book in the other, on an island (Patmos); in the sea around him are fish and a ship with two creatures on the roof; on the left an angel with a scroll points his finger at St John;

f. 5v: In an architectural frame, St John (left) kneels to Christ, who is seated with a sword across his mouth, an orb, and six candles above; seven churches in two tiers, each with an angel seated inside (right);

f. 6r: From the Commentary on Revelations by Berengaudus: Christ in a mandorla (centre) surrounded by the Evangelist symbols, with three dragons flying from each side of his head and his arm over two kneeling men, from whom demons are escaping; two bishops at an altar (left); robed men praying at an altar (right);

f. 6v: Christ in Majesty watched by Mary and surrounded by the symbols of the Evangelists and four compartments with elders, robed and crowned;

f. 7r: From the Commentary: Christ before an open door giving a scroll to kings and bishops (behind) and poor men and labourers (in front);

f. 7v St John with Christ holding books and an angel holding a scroll containing a letter;

f. 8r: From the Commentary: a three-part miniature in an architectural frame, representing the Church (left), the Synagogue (right) and the Old Testament prophets (centre);

f. 8v: St John outside the frame; inside the frame, Christ in a mandorla (above, centre), surrounded by elders casting down their crowns (below) and angels (above);

f. 9r: From the Commentary: Christ in Majesty with the four Evangelists writing (below), kings giving away their crowns (left) and friars being invited into a tower by men (right);

f. 9v: Five-part miniature of Christ giving the Book to the Lamb, surrounded by Evangelist symbols and musicians;

f. 10r: Seven-part miniature from the Commentary: a priest blessing the Sacrament on the left and on the right six compartments containing: Christ holding a cross and disk with the slaughtered Lamb on it, Adam weeping, admonished by an elder and Noah in the ark;

f. 10v: Six-part miniature of the Lamb with five horns in the centre, holding a banner with a cross, surrounded by musicians on both sides and beasts beneath;

f. 11r: From the Commentary on Revelations: God giving a scroll to Christ, who is holding a flag, with saints on one side and Pharisees on the other;

f. 11v: The opening of the first seal, with St John on the left and an angel with the seal, pointing to the Rider on a white horse, who is holding a bow and arrow;

f. 12r: From the Commentary: a six-part miniature representing the time before the flood: in the centre, a well with the water dividing into four streams, which flow into the sea; a bishop at an altar (right) and men standing next to two trees, one green and one withered (left); on either side of the central compartment, four compartments containing the four Evangelists writing; above the frame, the Crucifixion;

f. 12v: The second seal: St John and a lion in a cloud showing him a scroll and on the right the rider on the red horse in chain mail, holding a raised sword;

f. 13r: From the Commentary on Revelations 6:3-4: the flood (beneath), men holding scrolls (above) men fighting with swords (right) and Christ on a white horse with a scroll pointing to a woman standing in an arch (above);

f. 13v: The third seal: St John with a staff and book being given a scroll by a red ox in a cloud above, and the rider on the black horse with a pair of scales;

f. 14r: From the Commentary on Revelations 6:5-6: men committing violent crimes, while a king and counsellor sit in judgement (right). Christ in a mandorla with a balance (above), surrounded by the four beasts and Saints Peter, Paul and John on his left;

f. 14v: The fourth seal: St John outside the frame watching the rider on the pale horse holding a vessel of fire with an eagle above him, riding away from a hell-mouth containing heads, flames and devils;

f. 15r: From the Commentary on Revelations, 6:7-8: the prophecies are represented by the Prophets (top left) foretelling the Nativity, with God above touching Christ's head with a scroll and, on the right, the mouth of Hell with the wicked who despised the prophets, inside. In the upper margin is a red-breasted bird and in the lower margin a stork with pen-flourishing joining it to the tongue of a grotesque man's head in profile;

f. 15v: The fifth seal: St John watches as nude souls are clothed by angels; a hemisphere containing three stars (above);

f. 16r: From the Commentary on Revelations 6:9-11: Christ seated with a book and beneath him a church filled with nude souls. On his right are holy men and kings and beneath them executioners slay a king and a bishop, and there is a hell-mouth filled with devils;

f. 16v: The sixth seal: St John looking up at a cloud containing the sun and moon; on the right the ruins of a town and men and women in holes in the ground, with fragments of objects falling from the sky, representing the fall of the Jews and the call of the Gentiles;

f. 17r: From the Commentary on Revelations 6:12-17: Christ holding an elliptical object, looking down on Emperor Vespasian and scenes of persecution of the Jews;

f. 17v: St John on the left with a staff and scroll looking at four angels holding heads representing the winds at the four corners of the earth;

f. 18r: The unity of the Church and the four kingdoms of Assyria, Persia, Macedonia and Rome, each depicted as a walled city with a bishop and king, all submitting to the power of Rome;

f. 18v: God enthroned holding the Lamb in a quatrefoil, surrounded by four bands of angels, kings, elders and martyrs. On the left, St John, outside the frame, converses with the elder;

f. 19r: From the Commentary: Christ enthroned in an octofoil above with candlesticks and lamps and pink streams of fire flowing from him over the Virgin, Apostles, bishops and a king;

f. 19v: St John and a group of angels receiving a trumpet from another angel on the left and an angel holding a gold incense bearer on the right. In the middle is Christ enthroned in a mandorla;

f. 20r: From the Commentary: above the frame, Simon Magus is dropped by two demons, head-first; Saints Peter and Paul (centre) pray to Christ (above); St Paul is beheaded and St Peter is crucified upside-down, to the left and right;

f. 20v: Two angels, one emptying fire from a censer on an altar with the thunders above and the other angel blowing a trumpet, with fire falling to earth from above;

f. 21r From the Commentary: a saint before an altar on the left; Mary with the Apostles on the right and God in a half-mandorla above the frame, sending down a dove;

f. 21v: St John (outside the frame), three angels holding trumpets and a red star falling on a ship at sea;

f. 22r: From the Commentary: Moses, horned, with a scroll, leads a group of Jews (left); a ship at sea with a burning mountain behind (right);

f. 22v: St John with an eagle holding a scroll and an angel looking back; a destroyed city beneath;

f. 23r: From the Commentary: three rows of figures on the left represent heretics and pagans sinning and in the mouth of hell; on the right the Apostles listen to Christ, who is receiving a scroll from an angel outside the frame, above;

f. 23v: An angel blowing a trumpet and three winged horses with kings' heads and insects beneath;

f. 24r: From the Commentary: on the left are three kings with swords and on the right three bishops at an altar, one looking at a crucifix; outside the frame on the right is St John;

f. 24v: A winged King Abaddon riding a locust, trampling on men;

f. 25r: From the Commentary: A bishop and a devil (left); three children baptised (centre); Christ in a mandorla with angels and, below, devils falling into a hell-mouth (right);

f. 25v: An angel with a trumpet and four smaller angels standing in water (the Euphrates); an angel above emerges from a cloud, holding a scroll and Christ is in a mandorla blessing a chalice;

f. 26r: From the Commentary: three men with swords kill three clerics and their souls rise up as birds; on the right a king watches, smiling and holding a sword. On the left in a spired building Christ in a quatrefoil looks down on an angel at an altar with a scroll on which is an eagle is perched.

f. 26v: St John with a book and raised hand and horsemen in chain mail with spears, their horses breathing fire on dying men at their feet;

f. 27r: From the Commentary: in the shape of a church, with inside on the left a king and two attendants face a devil on a pedestal; in the centre a soldier is beheading a saint; on the right a pagan looks through a window at a bishop and two attendant;

f. 27v: St John, seated with an open book and thunder above him; angels with scrolls to his right and left speak to him and in the centre, a tall angel stands with one foot in the water and a rainbow over his head, holding an open book;

f. 28r: From the Commentary: Mary, Joseph and the Christ-child escape on the donkey, led by a young man. Behind them, Herod's soldiers are murdering babies and Herod on his throne draws his sword;

f. 28v: St John, hooded, led by an angel (left) to a temple with an altar, a chalice, two candlesticks and a lamp above (right);

f. 29r: From the Commentary: St John disembarks from a ship with the divine hand above; on the right are a group of men including clerics in a building listening to what he says;

f. 29v: The two witnesses watching men with swords slaughtering people in robes in a city;

f. 30r: From the Commentary: in an architectural frame, Christ above with four groups of people representing charitable works: feeding and giving alms to beggars, visiting and tending the sick. On the right a bishop celebrates mass and outside the frame St John holds a scroll and three clerics sit at his feet. Some areas are not painted at all; others have a layer of flat unmodelled paint, through which the black ink drawing can still be seen;

f. 30v: A king holding a sword; two attendants talk to the two witnesses (right); one attendant attacks people lying on the ground (left). The unfinished nature of the miniature allows us to make deductions about the process of manufacture: the design was sketched in pencil, then inked, then gold and silver were applied, and then flat colours such as blue and pink were applied. A junior assistant was perhaps responsible for details such as the framing-pattern, and the ornament of the text, which is why they are more complete;

f. 31r: From the Commentary: in an architectural frame' a battle with horsemen inside a walled city;

f. 31v: The two witnesses, lying dead on the ground with doves entering their mouths (left); they ascend to heaven (above); men give money to a king and soldiers threaten bishops (right);

f. 32r: From the Commentary: the Coronation of the Virgin with angels and the Apostles;

f. 32v: An angel with a trumpet and scroll (left) Christ in a mandorla (above), worshipped by 24 crowned elders (right);

f. 33r: From the Commentary: Christ as judge, a bishop at an altar (left), the Apostles, and Benedictine and Dominican monks (below);

f. 33v: The Temple (above, left) with an ox, goat and rabbit below; the Virgin and Child clothed with the sun, above, and a seven-headed dragon, below (right);

f. 34r: From the Commentary: the Massacre of the Innocents (left), and the Adoration of the Magi (right);

f. 34v: A woman seated by a tree with a book (left); Michael with a shield bearing a gold cross and two angels in the clouds (right) and dragons (beneath);

f. 35r: From the Commentary: Christ on the cross with the Virgin Mary and St John, a bishop enthroned with a scroll (left), Christ mocked and Adam rising from the tomb beneath (right);

f. 35v: The dragon (centre), St John (left) and a woman walking (right), while an angel hands her wings;

f. 36r: From the Commentary: persecution, with a man with 5 serpents protruding from his head, representing the Antichrist (left) and Peter and Paul at an altar (right), with Christ above in an octofoil. The King at the left is directing the martyrdom of St. Lawrence (being grilled) and St. Edmund (tied to a tree and shot with arrows).

f. 36v A framed miniature of a woman with wings and a book, flying away, with animals and a red dragon with multiple heads, breathing fire into the earth beneath her;

f. 37r: From the Commentary: the Church, crowned with flag and chalice (centre), a bishop addressing monks and friars, with devils in hell beneath (left) and the Holy Trinity in a quatrefoil with monks, friars and a devil;

f. 37v: Six angels with weapons fighting the seven-headed dragon;

f. 38r: From the Commentary: a three part miniature in a an architectural frame, of Christ (above) with the Virgin and Child and the Adoration of the Magi (left) and kings driven into a hell-mouth (right);

f. 38v: St John shielding his eyes on the left, while the red dragon on the edge of the sea gives a sceptre to a seven-headed spotted beast walking on the water and a group of men on the right look on. In the sea is a small boat with a man inside;

f. 39r: From the Commentary: the Antichrist with six serpent-heads and a hell-mouth below (left) and seven virtues trampling on seven vices, each in a separate framed architectural space (right);

f. 39v: A crowd of men worshipping the spotted beast who sits on a mound with a sceptre. On the right, the dragon orders other men to worship the beast;

f. 40r: From the Commentary: the Antichrist enthroned with a sword, a devil at his ear, knights and worshippers;

f. 40v: Men worshipping the dragon, who sits facing the spotted beast and Christ among the angels looking down from Heaven;

f. 41r: From the Commentary: the Antichrist (left), a man killing a saint is addressed by a Franciscan (centre). a bishop at an altar (right); Christ in a mandorla (above);

f. 41v: The beast with a shield and spear, charging a group of dead and dying men. Christ and angels watch from above;

f. 42r: From the Commentary: wicked men are deceived (left), a hell-mouth (centre), the Virgin and Child (right); Christ in a mandorla (above);

f. 42v: St John (left) with the third beast, or false prophet, seated on a mound and the second beast worshipped by men;

f. 43r: From the Commentary: the devil and Elias both trying to convert Jews;

f. 43v: The second beast on an altar and the third beast watching saints being killed (left);

f. 44r: Simon Magus and the Antichrist with figures rising from the dead;

f. 44v: The third beast or false prophet on a mound with a sword and men bringing children and horses to him. Pen flourishes with zoomorphic decoration in the lower margin;

f. 45r: From the Commentary: a man and woman kissing in bed, with two devils above, one of whom is pushing a crowd of men towards a horned king;

f. 45v: The Lamb with a flag on Mount Sion, surrounded by the faithful and St John with a scroll (left);

f. 46r: From the Commentary: Christ and the Virgin, crowned (above) with the Apostles on either; a bishop at an altar, a monk instructing men, and men digging (beneath);

f. 46v: St John, seated on the left, looking up at a rainbow with an empty seat on it, surrounded by the four beasts, while kings look up from beneath;

f. 47r: From the Commentary: a man with a halo above the frame anointing men who are being baptised (left); a devil pushes men in to a hell-mouth while another spews fire and hail on them from above (right);

f. 47v: St John (left) listening to an angel with a scroll in the air and a crowd of seated men beneath;

f. 48r: From the Commentary: men worshipping Christ (centre) and men with chests of money (right); a devil knocks down a church spire (left);

f. 48v: St John and an angel with a scroll looking at the ruined city of Babylon;

f. 49r: From the Commentary: a group of wicked men (left), one with a devil putting a bowl to his mouth; two devils destroy a city with pitchforks (right);

f. 49v: An angel pointing to a cup in the midst of flames (the wrath of God); the Lamb and five angels (right);

f. 50r: From the Commentary: a three-part miniature of Christ (above), with angels and Apostles and a hell-mouth below; a Franciscan addresses seated figures (left);

f. 50v: St John writing, with men dying in their beds beside him and angels carrying their souls up to Heaven in a cloth;

f. 51r: From the Commentary, an architectural frame with monks in habits and a man (Cornelius) kneeling to an angel;

f. 51v: St John seated (left); Christ crowned (above) and reaping with a sickle (below); an angel at the door of the Temple (right);

f. 52r: From the Commentary: angels pouring fire and hail onto the earth while Christ with orb (above) and St John (right) look on;

f. 52v: An angel leaning out of a door with a sickle (left); another angel stands by an altar with a chalice on it and points to a vine growing on earth (right);

f. 53r: Christ (in a mandorla) turning one face to the wicked and one to the righteous; an angel drives the wicked into a hell-mouth (right);

f. 53v: An angel cutting grapes with a sickle and handing them to a devil seated on a winepress; a river of wine flows towards two horses standing in a city gate;

f. 54r: From the Commentary: Christ in a quatrefoil (above) receiving a scroll from a kneeling apostle; men in a city with money and a gold cup and an angel watches people devoured by a hell-mouth (right);

f. 54v: St John looking up (left); four people playing harps (centre); angels above in a cloud;

f. 55r: From the Commentary: two men seated (left), one with an orb held up and a sea of crystal on the right;

f. 55v: Framed miniature of St John (left) with angels enclosed in clouds taking vials from a lion; above is a temple and the feet of Christ in the lower part of a mandorla;

f. 56r: From the Commentary, an architectural frame with Moses holding the tablets in a curtained Tabernacle (left), a dying monk under an arch (centre) and an angel speaking to men at an altar (right);

f. 56v: An angel pouring out his vial on the earth (centre); other angels (left) and men (right) look on;

f. 57r: From the Commentary: a bishop with a crozier (centre), a prophet (right) and an angel (left) with scrolls and a seated crowd;

f. 57v: Two angels pouring out the second and third vials on the waters (left) and two other angels, one with another vial, at an altar with a chalice; St John looks on (right);

f. 58r: From the Commentary: eight dead men and women lying in the water, perhaps representing the destruction of the wicked; bishops and clerics watch (left);

f. 58v: An angel pouring the fourth vial onto the sun, whose rays strike a mass of dying men;

f. 59r: From the Commentary: Christ gives the keys to Peter; a bishop strikes a wicked man with a sword;

f. 59v: Angels pouring the fifth vial on an empty seat, the throne of the beast and the sixth vial on a river, the Euphrates; men gnaw their tongues and look upwards;

f. 60r: From the Commentary: three prophets addressing a crowd of heretics (left) and souls in a hell-mouth with a large demon standing on top;

f. 60v: St John looking at the three beasts with frogs coming out of their mouths;

f. 61r: From the Commentary: a man with a devil at his ear and a sceptre; before him stand three ugly men, two with devils coming from their mouths and one with a devil at his ear;

f. 61v: An angel (left) pouring out a vial into the air, watched by Christ in a mandorla with a church behind; seven heads spew fire from their mouths onto a fallen city (below);

f. 62r: From the Commentary: friars speaking to men kneeling outside a church; a man with a scroll faces them (left);

f. 62v: St John and an angel, who points to a woman holding a mirror, sitting on a hill striped with rivers;

f. 63r: The city of the devil (left) and the city of God (right); in the centre, Franciscans, one with a cross raised to strike a man with a sword;

f. 64r: An angel shows St John the seven-headed beast with a woman sitting on its back, holding a covered cup;

f. 64v: Framed unpainted miniature of St John talking to an angel who points at a destroyed city with men and devils among the ruins;

f. 65r: From the Commentary: a bishop speaking to men sitting on a mound above a ruined city (left); the Virgin, crowned, holding the Christ-child in a church (right);

f. 65v: An angel dropping a millstone into the sea, with ships, while St John (left) watches;

f. 66r: From the Commentary: Christ with angels and elders; an angel with a sword drives men in to a hell-mouth (left); men with purses give money to the poor (right);

f. 66v: The harlot lies dead with smoke coming out of her body; Christ in a quatrefoil above, surrounded by angels with trumpets and elders beneath;

f. 67r: From the Commentary: angels with trumpets and scrolls around a mandorla of the Trinity; worshippers below;

f. 67v: An angel blowing a trumpet and a lion's head (above), with a bride and the Lamb at the table with a man and a woman (below) and St John looking on, in a robe with a tartan design (left);

f. 68r: From the Commentary: Noah building the ark (below, left), Adam and Eve toiling (above, left); an angel with a scroll addresses a group of patriarchs;

f. 68v: St John writing while an angel speaks to him (left) and St John kneeling before an angel, who raises him (right);

f. 69r: From the Commentary: Christ in a quatrefoil (above), with an angel leading a group of prophets and pointing up at him (right); a Franciscan with a cross addresses a group of seated people (left);

f. 69v Framed miniature of Christ treading a winepress (below); Christ on a horse with a book and a sword across his mouth, leading horsemen;

f. 70r: From the Commentary: black monks (left), one with a crozier, and two bishops, one stabbing a wicked man, whom a devil pulls into Hell; a lion beneath;

f. 70v: An angel (above) with birds who are diving down and devouring corpses (below);

f. 71r: From the Commentary: Christ in a quatrefoil (above), with a crowd of bishops, kings and monks (left) and a group of wicked men in armour (right) facing each other beneath;

f. 71v: Christ on horseback with a multi-coloured halo spears the spotted beast or false prophet; a group of kings with swords oppose Christ (right) and St John watches (left);

f. 72r: From the Commentary: friars and a priest in a church (left), with wicked men and a devil climbing a ladder and destroying the church with a pickaxe; the Antichrist in armour and other knights with weapons are watching;

f. 72v: An angel prodding the beast and false prophet in to a fire with a long prod; Christ on horseback (left) and an angel (right) watch;

f. 73r: From the Commentary: Christ in a quatrefoil (above), Paul with a sword and scroll (left), an angel attacking the beast with a sword and a devil pulling a man into a hell-mouth;

f. 73v: An angel holding a dragon by a chain and opening a door with a key (right), while another flies down with a key and a chain (left);

f. 74r: From the Commentary: Christ conquering devils with a sword and spear; an angel trampling on the damned in Hell (right) and the Coronation of the Virgin in a mandorla (above right);

f. 74v: St John in the centre with the Virgin Mary and a group of souls at her feet (left); three robed men confront St John (right);

f. 75r: From the Commentary: Christ, the Virgin and the Apostles, with the dead rising (left); two wicked men killing two saints (right);

f. 75v: Soldiers and a dragon emerging from a hell-mouth, attacking a city with people inside and men blowing horns from the towers;

f. 76r: From the Commentary: a devil, bound, in a green cave, representing a wicked heart (left); a group of wicked men, one with a sceptre (right);

f. 76v Framed miniature of a hell-mouth the three beasts and many souls inside and a devil (right); fire falls from above;

f. 77r: From the Commentary: Christ in a mandorla with a scroll; Dominicans, Franciscans, Benedictines, kings and bishops approach him; a hell-mouth with devils and souls (below right); a hell-mouth with devils and souls (below right); an angel with a sword, attacking two nude people and a bishop;

f. 77v: St John seated (left), looking up at Christ in a quatrefoil; beneath, a group of nude figures throw books in a fire, and a hell-mouth open (below right);

f. 78r: From the Commentary: Christ in a quatrefoil with flames (right) and men kneeling below; David with a harp and scroll (left);

f. 78v: The heavenly Jerusalem descending; an angel beckons to St John (left);

f. 79r: From the Commentary: a miniature on four levels, of the Last Judgement, with angels; the Virgin, Apostles and saints; bishops, kings, abbots and women; souls rising from the dead;

f. 79v: The revelation of the heavenly Jerusalem to St John;

f. 80r: From the Commentary: the Virgin Mary, reclining with the Christ-child, the ox and ass and an angel coming down to bless her with a book (above); on the right, Peter with the key and St John behind;

f. 80v: God in a mandorla with the Lamb (right), and a stream flowing to the city below; St John and an angel above a mound with men in a cave (left);

f. 81r: From the Commentary: the Coronation of the Virgin, in a quatrefoil (above); a bishop and kings worship her (left); the prophet Ezekiel sits writing beside the river of life flowing beside trees;

f. 81v: St John kneeling before a standing angel, who raises him up and points to part of a mandorla where the feet of Christ are visible;

f. 82r: From the Commentary: a bishop seated with a book and scroll (left); a woman with a book, perhaps representing the Church (right); two angels with scrolls;

f. 82v: St John kneeling with arms outstretched before Christ, who has a book in his hand.