Illuminated Manuscript Collection (#24)

St Eusebius, 13th century. Eusebius (c283-371) was a Christian Saint born in Sardinia, who became Bishop of Vercelli. From the Epistle of Eusebius to Carpianus

Lothair I, Frankish Emperor, 9th century. Lothair (795-855) seated on a throne and wearing a crown flanked by two guards. When the Emperor Louis the Pious, son of Charlemagne

Frederick I, Barbarossa, 12th century Holy Roman Emperor, 13th century. Frederick, Duke of Swabia (c1123-1190), succeeded his uncle Conrad III as Holy Roman Emperor in 1152

Building a road, 15th century. Woodmen fell trees with axes while paviors lay the surface of an already cleared road. From the Chronicles of Hainaut

Deer hunt, 15th century. Artist: Workshop of the Bedford Breviary
Deer hunt, 15th century. Hounds and mounted huntsmen blowing horns, chase a stag through a forest. In the left foreground hunt servants prepare to release more hounds

Deer hunt, 15th century. Hounds and mounted huntsmen blowing horns, chasing a stag through a forest. From Le Livre de la Chasse (Book of the Hunt) of Gaston III Phoebus, Comte de Foix

Scenes from the life of Louis IX, King of France, 13th century (15th century). Top left: baptism of a Jew in the presence of Louis

Genesis: creation of the animals. Bible scene from an Armenian Evangelistery

Richard II, King of England, presiding at a tournament, 1377-1379 (15th century). Watched by the king, mounted knights in armour joust with lances

Scene from the Romance of Lancelot of the Lake. Artist: Gautier
Scene from the Romance of Lancelot of the Lake. The Count des Broches in combat with King Nabor and Sir Gawain. In the centre mounted knights in armour are fighting with lances and swords

Page from Le Livre de Lancelot du Lac (The Book of Sir Lancelot of the Lake), 15th century. At top right Lancelot holds the decapitated head of Sir Agravain, Knight of the round table

Scenes from the life of St Denis, patron saint of France, 3rd century (14th century). St Denis consecrates a church in Paris (bottom) and baptises new Christians (top)

Scenes from the Seventh Crusade, 1248-1254 (15th century). Top: Louis IX (1215-1270), King of France from 1226, called Saint Louis, being brought as a prisoner before the Sultan

Scenes from the First Crusade, 1096-1099 (c1490). Artist: Sebastian Marmoret
Scenes from the First Crusade, 1096-1099 (c1490). In the foreground of the main image, mounted knights unhorsed and killed in a melee of hand-to-hand fighting with (left)

Page from the Belleville Breviary 1323-1326. Artist: Jean Pucelle
Page from the Belleville Breviary 1323-1326. The upper miniature shows Saul (11th century BC), Old Testament ruler, in a fit of jealous madness

Scenes from the life of St Jerome, from the Bible of Charles the Bald, 9th century. Top: Jerome (c342-420) leaves Rome for Jerusalem to take Hebrew lessons; centre

Richard II surrendering the crown, 1399. Richard II (1367-1400) became King of England in 1377. In 1399, while he was away in Ireland, his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke

Flavius Josephus brought before Titus, at the Siege of Jerusalem, 70. Flavius Josephus (c37-c100), Jewish historian and soldier, is brought before Titus (39-81)

Scene from Mort d Arthur, 14th century. Sir Lancelot of the Lake and Queen Guinevere seen embracing by King Arthur

Scenes from the First Crusade, 1096-1099 (14th century). The First Crusade was ordered by Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont in 1095

St Augustin, Bishop of Hippo in discussion. Monks pray in the background. St Augustine of Hippo (354-430) is regarded as one of the great fathers of the early Christian church

Double page spread from a Koran with marginal decoration, 1867

Double page spread from a Koran with marginal floral decoration, Turkish, 1855

Double page spread from a Koran with illuminated borders, North Indian, 1838

King David playing a lyre, 10th-11th century. The instrument is probably a Rebec (Rebeck), a 3-stringed instrument developed from the Arab Rabab. From a manuscript of St Martial de Limoges

Illustration from Homilies on the Virgin, Byzantine manuscript, 12th century. Artist: James of Kokkinobaphos
Illustration from Homilies on the Virgin, Byzantine manuscript, 12th century. The Ascension (centre), David (right, wearing crown) and the Prophet Isiah (left)

Council of Acre and the Siege of Damascus, 1147-1148 (late 12th century). Events from the Second Crusade showing the Council of Acre (top)

Hand-to-hand fighting with swords in defence of a castle, 14th century. Detail from a Manuscript in the British Museum

Henry VIIs first act of parliament with an initial portrait of the king, late 1480s. With a border illuminated with depictions of flora and fauna

Byzantine cavalrymen overwhelming enemy cavalry and foot soldiers. Illustrated manuscript

Coronation of Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, and his wife Matilda. Henry (1129-1195), Duke of Saxony from 1146 married Matilda, daughter of Henry II of England, in 1168

Moses leading the Children of Israel through the Red Sea, 15th century. Illustration from a German Bible

Henry the Navigator, Portuguese prince, founder of school of navigation, 15th century
Henry the Navigator, Portuguese prince and founder of a school of navigation, 15th century. From his base at Sagres in the Algarve, Henry (1394-1460) sponsored voyages of discovery into the Atlantic

Lovers embracing in a garden. Detail from a Persian manuscript depicting a couple embracing in a garden, surrounded by flowering plants. Clouds float in the sky above them

Eadwine the Scribe, c mid 12th century. From a psalter written at Christ Church, Canterbury about the middle of the 12th century by Eadwine, a monk of the house

Abraham preparing to sacrifice his son Isaac to God, 18th century
Abraham preparing to sacrifice his son Isaac to God in place of the sacrificial lamb held by a figure in the background, 18th century. Illustration from an Arab manuscript

Arab manuscript depicting an angel weighing a soul

Marco Polo, Venetian traveller and merchant meeting Kublai Khan, 13th century
Marco Polo, Venetian traveller and merchant meeting Kublai Khan, c1274. Marco Polo (1254-1324), together with his father and uncle, presenting the Popes letter to Kublai Khan (1214-1294)

Page from a Gutenberg Bible, 1455. Artist: Johannes Gutenberg
Page from the Gutenberg Bible, 1455. Johann Gutenberg (c1398-1468) is regarded as the inventor of movable type. In 1455 he produced the first large printed book, the Gutenberg Bible

Death of Frederick I Barbarossa, 1190 (2nd half of 13th century). Frederick I (c1123-1190), Holy Roman emperor from 1152, drowned trying to cross the River Saleph in Cilicia

The Turkish astronomer Takiuddin at his observatory at Galata, Istanbul, 1581. Showing astronomical instruments in use at the time

Pilgrims at Mecca. Illustrated page for a copy of the Koran. From the Anthropological Museum, Amsterdam

Crusaders embarking for the Holy Land, 15th century. Banners show the Papal arms, those of the Holy Roman Emperor and the kings of England, France and Sicily. From Statutes of Order of Saint Esprit

Band of crusaders armed and mounted, 15th century. From Statutes of Order of Saint Esprit

King Solomon welcoming the Queen of Sheba. From the Bible (I Kings10: 2). Chromolithograph after a 15th century miniature in the Breviary of Cardinal Grimani attributed to Hans Memling

A Plantagenet king of England dining. The king depicted is possibly Henry II, who reigned from 1154-1189. Chromolithograph from medieval manuscript

A Plantagenet king of England out hunting. The king depicted is possibly King John (1167-1216). Chromolithograph after a medieval manuscript

Siege of the Fortress of Faith. The Fortress of Faith besieged by unbelievers and heretics, defended by the Pope, bishops, monks, clerics and theologians

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