Yates Thompson MS 10

A manuscript of the Apocalypse (Book of Revelation) with commentary, in French (ff. 1r-139v), beginning "Saint Pol l'apostre dit que touz ceulz qui veulent piement vivre en Ihesucrist souffreront persecucion...", and ending "...Que nous puissions ovec lui en sa gloire en coprs et en ame sanz regner. Amen."

Decoration:

Backhouse (The Illuminated Page (1997), p. 128) attributes this manuscript to the artist responsible for the Coronation Book of Charles V (Cotton Tiberius B VIII, ff. 35-80) executed in Paris in 1365.

1 large historiated initial, accompanied by a full foliate border, in colours and gold (f. 1r), depicting St Paul, standing holding the sword of his martyrdom, looking up and pointing to his text.

69 large and small miniatures, in colours and gold, as follows:

f. 2r: St John the Evangelist, holding a golden palm, preaching to a seated group of men (Revelation 1: 9-11);

f. 2r: St John (left) looks on at Christ who is seated between seven golden candlesticks, wearing a golden girdle, with a two-edged sword in his mouth and seven stars at his right hand (Revelation 1: 12-16);

f. 2v: St John lies as dead and Christ appears from the clouds and lays his hand on him (Revelation 1: 17-20);

f. 3r: An angel, emerging from the clouds, instructs St John to write the letter to Ephesus on his scroll (Revelation 2: 1);

f. 5v: St John climbs a ladder to the door of heaven (a starry blue semi-circle), in which stands the angel who summons him (Revelation 4: 1); God enthroned, surrounded by a rainbow and between seven lamps, flanked by the seated twenty-four crowned elders and the four beasts in corner roundels (Revelation 4: 2-7);

f. 7r: The Lamb, surmounted by a cross and in a mandorla, is surrounded by the four beasts (identified in the commentary as the Four Evangelists); beneath this, the twenty-four elders kneel holding their crowns (Revelation 4: 9-11);

f. 7v: On the left St John is consoled by an elder; God (centre) with the book of the seven seals beside him and on the right an angel in white proclaims "Who is worthy to open the book?" (Revelation 5: 1-5);

f. 8r: An open book before the Lamb, surmounted by a cross; beneath, the crowned twenty-four elders play harps and are joined by a musician playing the viol, and the four beasts in corner roundels (Revelation 5: 8-10);

f. 8v: The angels, four beasts, and the kneeling twenty-four elders adore the Lamb (Revelation 5: 11-14);

f. 9r: St John, holding the golden palm, with the lion behind him, and the Lamb presiding, beholds the vision at the opening of the first seal: a crowned rider on a white horse holds a bow (Revelation 6: 1-2);

f. 9v: A crowned rider on a red horse carrying a sword, introduced by St Matthew's angel (the opening of the second seal: Revelation 6: 3-4); St John's eagle introducing the third rider, crowned, on a black horse and carrying a pair of scales (the opening of the third seal: Revelation 6: 5-6);

f. 10r: St Luke's ox introduces the final horseman: he emerges from a gaping monster's mouth riding a pale horse and holding a sword (the opening of the fourth seal: Revelation 6: 7-8);

f. 10v: Under an altar at the top centre two angels are giving white stoles to white-robed figures (the opening of the fifth seal: Revelation 6: 9-11);

f. 11r: The earthquake at the opening of the sixth seal: six heads in holes in the ground with a river in the foreground and the sun and moon in the top register (Revelation 6: 12-17);

f. 11v: Four angels hold the winds, symbolised by four animal heads, at the four corners of the earth, covered with trees and buildings and surrounded by the sea (Revelation 7: 1); the standing angel carries a cross staff as the "mark of the living God" (Revelation 7: 2-3);

f. 12r: Twelve angels and twelve standing men holding palms and wearing white stoles adore God and the Lamb (Revelation 7: 4-12);

f. 12v: One of the twenty-four elders explaining to St John, holding his palm, that those wearing the white garments are the martyrs (Revelation 7: 13-17); an angel censes the alter in heaven; seven angels with trumpets to the right (the opening of the seventh seal: Revelation 8: 1-4);

f. 13r: The first angel blows the trumpet and fire falls upon the trees, birds and the earth; three men and a woman flee (Revelation 8: 7);

f. 13v: The second angel sounds his trumpet and fire falls upon the sea; boats and humans are submerged (Revelation 8: 8-9);

f. 14r: The third angel sounds his trumpet, a burning star falls from heaven and makes the water bitter; two men drinking the bitter water, a third lying on the ground holding his stomach (Revelation 8: 10-11); the fourth angel sounds his trumpet, causing the darkening of the sun and moon; an eagle, top centre, flanked by the sun and moon (Revelation 8: 12-13);

f. 14v: A star falling to earth; the locusts and the destryoing angel released from the pit, represented by a door in the ground with ironwork decoration (the fifth trumpet: Revelation 9: 1-3);

f. 15r: The sixth angel sounds his trumpet, and another angel pulls four angels bound by rope from the river Euphrates, in order to release them; above, God seated next to an altar (Revelation 9: 13-15);

f. 15v: The horsemen of the Apocalypse destroy the people: knights with swords riding horses with lions' heads and serpent-like tails that breathe fire trample men in the lower register (Revelation 9: 16-17);

f. 16r: The Great Angel in a cloud with a rainbow above holding a book, one foot on the sea and the other on land; the seven thunders, represented as animal heads, raise their voices (Revelation 10: 1-4);

f. 16v: The Great Angel gives St John the book to eat (Revelation 10: 9-10);

f. 17r: The Great Angel gives St John a rod to measure the temple; both standing, left, with the temple, right, containing two facing groups of four kings (Revelation 11: 1);

f. 17v: Two witnesses, tonsured and wearing white habits, preaching with fire emerging from their mouths to devour their enemies (Revelation 11: 3-5);

f. 18r: The witnesses are destroyed by the beast (here a dragon); their ascension to heaven, flanking a dove within a cloud (Revelation 11: 7, 11, 12);

f. 18v: The seventh angel sounds his trumpet; Christ, centre, proclaimed by the twenty-four kneeling elders (Revelation 11: 15-17);

f. 19r: A crowned woman clothed with the sun and standing on the moon; three angels stand in front of a turretted walled enclosure which contains the temple within (Revelation 11: 19; 12: 1);

f. 19v: A woman in bed suckling a child; the seven-headed dragon stands before her with his tail having drawn down the stars from heaven (Revelation 12: 4-5);

f. 20r: The War in Heaven (Revelation 12: 7): St Michael, crowned, with two angels, all with shields and holding a cross staff, sword and lance, fight against the dragon and his angels;

f. 20v: The dragon and his angels cast into the earth (Revelation 12: 9): the dragon and the angels fall vertically downwards from a cloud; the dragon persecutes the woman, casting out a flood from its mouth (Revelation 12: 13-15);

f. 21r: The seven-headed beast rises from the sea (Revelation 13: 1);

f. 21v: The dragon, single-headed, is worshipped by a group of standing people (Revelation 13: 4);

f. 22r: The false prophet, here a beast with two horns, looked upon by a group of standing people (Revelation 13: 11-13);

f. 23r: The Adoration of the Lamb on Mount Sion (Revelation 14: 1): the Lamb on raised ground, holding a cross flag, and flanked by two groups of people;

f. 23v: The First Angel saying "Fear Our Lord" (Revelation 14: 6-7): an angel flying horizontally across the sky towards the Lord; a group of standing people looking upwards towards the Lord;

f. 24r: The Fall of Babylon (Revelation 14: 8): the angel flying down points, as does St John, to the falling towers of the city of Babylon;

f. 24v: The Harvest of the Earth (Revelation 14: 14-15): a crowned figure holding a sickle sits within a cloud above a field of ripe wheat; on the left an angel in front of a city, representing the temple, looks and points towards the figure with the sickle;

f. 25r: The cutting of the grapes (left), the casting of the grapes into the winepress of the wrath of God (centre), and (right) the juice from the grapes as blood coming up to the bridles of two horses (Revelation 14: 17-19);

f. 25v: The Seven Harpers on the Sea of Glass (Revelation 15: 2): here the seven harping angels stand on grass with the sea (lower right) in front of them;

f. 26r: Seven angels holding vials and pointing, with a city behind them (Revelation 15: 6-7);

f. 26v: The pouring of the first two vials, here combined into one picture: one angel (left) pours the first vial to earth over the heads of kneeling men, and the second angel (right) pours out his vial to sea (Revelation 16: 2-3);

f. 27v: Frogs emerging from the mouths of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet (Revelation 16: 13);

f. 28r: The seventh angel pours out his vial over a city; a figure stands before the temple, and red streaks (lightning) fall from the sky (Revelation 16: 1-8);

f. 28v: One of the angels with the vials, pouring it out, leads St John to behold the whore of Babylon seated on the seven-headed beast (Revelation 17: 3);

f. 29r: An angel in conversation with St John, while in between them the beast goes head first into a pit (Revelation 17: 7-8);

f. 30v: On the left an angel announces the fall of Babylon, while two turrets fall from the city; on the right a saint instructs the people to go out from Babylon (Revelation 18: 1, 2, 4);

f. 31v: An angel emerging from the sky with a millstone to cast into sea beneath (Revelation 18: 21);

f. 32r: God, centre, flanked by the twenty-four elders kneeling in adoration; the four beasts in roundels at the corners (Revelation 19: 1-4);

f. 33r: The armies of heaven (Revelation 19: 11-16): a crowned rider on a white horse with a sword suspended before him leading a further five riders on white horses;

f. 33v: The birds summoned by the angel in the sun (Revelation 19: 17-18): three trees and a variety of birds (an owl, peacock, chicken, etc), centre, with an angel standing on the sun (left) and St John standing and observing the birds (right); St John looks on at the left as an angel forces the false prophet and the beast into the pool of fire, whereas on the right their followers are killed by two angels bearing a spear and sword (Revelation 19: 20-21);

f. 34r: St John looks on as the angel leads the dragon by a chain towards a prison in a tower (Revelation 20: 1-2);

f. 34v: Four saints sit at the left and on the right an angel extends his hands towards five figures dressed in white robes (Revelation 20: 4-5);

f. 35r: Two groups of shrouded figures either side of God, enthroned, with two open books (Revelation 20: 11-12);

f. 35v: St John observes a city on the earth with the blue semi-circle of heaven above (Revelation 21: 1);

f. 36r: God, centre, speaks to St John; the Holy City comes down from heaven in a cloud and an angel with a vial stands at its entrance; (Revelation 21: 2-9);

f. 37r: The angel brings a rod down to St John such that he can measure the Holy City, which is about to settle on a hill (Revelation 21: 15);

f. 38r: The angel shows St John the throne of God and the Lamb, the river of the water of life flowing from the throne, and the tree of life (Revelation 22: 1-2);

f. 39r: St John standing before the angel of Christ who holds a book (Revelation 22: 16);

f. 39v: St John stands holding a cross staff, preaching to a seated group (Revelation 22: 18-19).

Small two-line initials and line fillers, in gold on red and blue grounds.