Title
Bible
Generic classification
Manuscripts and illuminationsObject
ManuscriptDate
ca. 985Century
Late 10th c.Cultural context / style
VisigothicDimensions
14,4 x 10,6 inTechnique
IlluminationIconography / Theme
LiturgiaProvenance
Monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos (Santo Domingo de Silos, Burgos, Spain)Current location
The Princes Czartoryski Library (Cracovia, Poland)Inventory Number in Current Collection
MS 3118Object history
The origin of the library of the monastery of San Sebastián de Silos, later called Santo Domingo de Silos, can be found in the reconstruction carried out by the Castilian Count Fernán González in the middle of the 10th century. In the year 954 the count donated numerous lands and possessions to the monastery, as well as some books relevant to the cult (Senra, 2002). However, the peak of the monastery took place with the abbot Domingo Manso, who had been a monk of San Millán de la Cogolla. In 1041 Fernando I put him in charge of San Sebastián de Silos and under his mandate the monastic complex grew considerably. The library increased thanks to the donations received and the productions of the scriptorium itself (Castro, 2020), reaching its peak at the end of the eleventh and beginning of the twelfth century (Sánchez Mariana, 1984; Boylan, 1992).
Precisely, this Bible is one of the volumes that were made in the tenth century (Férotin, 1912; Vivancos, 2007). The Silense library suffered great losses throughout its history, such as this copy. Rodrigo Echevarría, the last abbot of the monastery before the exclaustration of 1835, was in charge of jealously preserving the manuscripts that were still treasured in Silos. According to Besse (1897), he was a manof"uncommon prudence and firmness, combined with an extensive knowledge, a great knowledge of the world and noble and distinguished manners". There is no doubt that his decision to protect the manuscripts helped to prevent them from being dispersed at first. However, their fate changed when he was appointed bishop of Segovia in 1857. Echevarría had to leave the monastery, and from then on the codices fell into disrepair.
Anastasio Rodrigo y Yusto, archbishop of Burgos, was impressed when he visited the Monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos. Its dilapidated state led him to appeal to the former monks of the abbey. It was at that moment that Sebastián Fernández, one of the exclaustrated monks and vicar of the church of San Martín (Madrid), intervened. Although he was responsible for protecting the manuscripts in the capital, he failed to appreciate their true value, which led him to contact a marquis in Madrid "plus ou moins authentique" who worked with Aunt Jesusa, a woman well known for selling antiquities (Besse, 1897; Ruiz and Gonzalez de Linares, 1978). Thus it was that in 1877 she sold 69 manuscripts for 16,000 pesetas, a figure that undoubtedly pleased the parish priest.
This Bible was among these codices sold in Madrid. It was acquired by Antoine Bachelin-Deflorenne, an antiquarian specializing in the sale of antique and rare books. Although his main store was located in Paris, at 10 Boulevard des Capucines, he had branches in London and Madrid. That is how he learned that Sebastian Fernandez was selling the Siloian manuscripts. The Bible was offered for sale in Paris on June 1, 1878 at the Hotel des Commissaires-Priseurs (Paris) and was bought by the Polish prince Władysław Czartoryski (Vivancos, 2007). He had founded in 1874 the National Museum of Krakow, which was linked to The Princes Czartoryski Library, so the manuscript became part of its collection.
Description
It contains the books of the four major prophets, the twelve minor prophets and the first and second books of the Maccabees. Originally the Bible was divided into three volumes: the first one dedicated to the Historical Books, the second to the Sapiential Books and the third to the New Testament (Vivancos, 2007). Although the manuscript comes from the Monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos, it was probably not written there. It consists of 216 folios divided into two columns of 37 lines. Vivancos (2007) considers that several amanuenses participated in the codex, although most of it was elaborated by the same scribe.
Locations
Xth c. - ca. 1857
Mid XIXth c. - 1877
parish priest
Sebastián Fernández, Madrid (Spain)
ca. 1877 - ca. 1878
dealer/antiquarian
"Aunt Jesusa", Madrid (Spain) *
ca. 1878
dealer/antiquarian
Antoine Bachelin-Deflorenne, Paris (France) *
ca. 1878
private collection
Władysław Czartoryski, Paris (France) *
ca. 1878 - present
Bibliography
- BESSE, Jean-Martial (1897): "Histoire d'un dépot litteraire. L'abbaye de Silos", nº 14, Revue bénédictine.
- BOYLAN, Ann (2002): "The Silos Beatus and the Silos Scriptorium", en Church, State, Vellum, and Stone: Essays on Medieval Spain in Honor of John Williams, Brill, Leiden.
- BOYLAN, Ann (1992): "The Library at Santo Domingo de Silos and Its Catalogues (XIth–XVIIIth Centuries)", nº 3, Revue Mabillon.
- BOYLAN, Ann (1990): Manuscript Illumination at Santo Domingo de Silos (Xth to XII Centuries), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh.
- DOMÍNGUEZ BORDONA, Jesús (1935): "Una carta sobre la venta de libros en Silos", vol. 11, nº 33, Archivo español de arte y arqueología.
- FÉROTIN, Marius (1897): Histoire de l'Abbaye de Silos, Léroux, París.
- GORZELANY, Dorota (2015): "The Post-Puławy Art Collection built up by Prince Władysław Czartoryski", en I Open the Temple of Memory. The Czartoryski Collection and the Emergence of the Idea of Museum in Poland, Herbst Palace Museum, Lodz, pp. 158-169.
- SÁNCHEZ MARIANA, Manuel (1984): "Los códices del Monasterio de Silos", vol. 63, nº 203, Boletín de la Institución Fernán González.
- SENRA GABRIEL Y GALÁN, José Luis (2002): "Monasterio de Santo Domingo de Silos", en Enciclopedia del románico en Castilla y León, Fundación Santa María la Real, Aguilar de Campoo.
- VIVANCOS, Miguel (2007): "Bible. Czartorysky Library, Cracow (Poland), Ms. 3.118", en Hispania Vetus. Musical-liturgical manuscripts: from Visigothic Origins to the Franco-Roman Transition (9th-12th Centuries), editado por Susana Zapke, BBVA, Bilbao, pp. 262-263.
- WHITEHILL, Walter Muir (1976): "The manuscripts of Santo Domingo de Silos", en Homenaje a fray Justo Pérez de Urbel I, Abadía de Silos, Burgos.
- WHITEHILL, Walter Muir y PÉREZ DE URBEL, Justo (1929): "Los manuscritos del Real Monasterio de Santo Domingo de Silos", nº 95, Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia.
Record manager
Isabel Escalera FernándezCitation:
Isabel Escalera Fernández, "Bible" in Nostra et Mundi. Cultural Heritage from Castile and Leon around the world, Fundación Castilla y León, 2025. https://inventario.nostraetmundi.com/en/work/410
f. 134r
Zapke (2007): 263.
Zapke (2007): 263.
