Title
Pauline Epistles, with commentary by Petrus Lombardus
Generic classification
Manuscripts and illuminationsObject
ManuscriptDate
ca. 1170-1181Century
Last quarter of the 12th c.Cultural context / style
GothicDimensions
14,3 x 9,7 inTechnique
IlluminationProvenance
Monastery of Saints Facundo and Primitivo (Sahagún, León, Spain)Current location
The Morgan Library (New York, United States)Inventory Number in Current Collection
MS M.939Object history
This manuscript was produced in the scriptorium of the monastery of Sahagún (León). According to the inscription in the colophon,“Egregius vir Guterius, pastor monacho” (f. 275v), it appears that the copy was made for Abbot Guterius (Franco Mata, 2010). This abbot led the monastery between 1164 and 1182, so it must have been produced during that period. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the signature “Gutierrez” was added to the first folio, leading to the assumption that he might have been its next owner; however, there is no information regarding his identity. The monastery underwent secularization in 1820 and confiscation in 1837, events that severely affected the heritage it held (Agúndez, 2019).
In the early 20th century, the manuscript came into the possession of Luis Escobet y Cots, a bibliophile based in Barcelona who added his heraldic ex libris to the front endpaper. In 1927, the paleographer Elias Avery Lowe took an interest in the manuscript and brought it to public attention; it was purchased that same year by Alfred Chester Beatty (Hayes, 1958; Wilson, 1985; Horton, 2003). He attempted to sell his collection of Western manuscripts, including Sahagún’s (lot 46), at two auctions between 1932 and 1933 at Sotheby’s. However, the sale did not go as expected, and he decided to keep the volumes (Cleaver, 2017). After his death in 1968, the manuscript was put up for sale again at Sotheby’s on December 3 (lot 9). That same year, E. P. Goldsmith acquired the manuscript through the Belle da Costa Greene collection, and it became part of the Morgan Library from that point on.
Description
The manuscript consists of 276 folios, each comprising one or two columns of 27 lines. In terms of decoration, it features eleven historiated initials and ten illuminated initials. The initials are adorned with gold and bright colors. The decorative motifs include plant and animal elements, as well as scenes from the life of Saint Paul (Eleen, 1982; Franco Mata, 2010).
Locations
Last quarter of the XIIth c.
ca. 1900 - ca. 1927
private collection
Luis Escobet y Cots, Barcelona (Spain) *
1927 - 1968
private collection
Alfred Chester Beatty, London (United Kingdom) *
ca. 1968
auction house
Sotheby's, Nueva York / Londres
ca. 1968 - present
Bibliography
- (1968): The Chester Beatty Western Manuscripts, vol. I, Sotheby's, Londres, pp. 33-35.
- (1933): Catalogue of the Renowned Collection of Western Manuscripts. The property of A. Chester Beatty, Sotheby's, Londres, pp. 87-89.
- AGÚNDEZ, Leticia (2019): La memoria escrita en el Monasterio de Sahagún (años 904-1300), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid, p. 21.
- ALTET, Xavier Barral i; AVRIL, François; GABORIT-CHOPIN, Danielle (1983): Les royaumes d'Occident, Gallimard, París, p. 257.
- CLEAVER, Laura (2017): "The Western Manuscript Collection of Alfred Chester Beatty (ca. 1915-1930)", vol. 2, nº 2, Manuscript Studies: A Journal of the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies, pp. 445-482.
- ELEEN, Luba (1982): The Illustrations of the Pauline Epistles in French and English Bibles of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries, Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp. 85-86 / 91-101.
- FRANCO MATA, Ángela (2010): Arte leonés (siglos IV-XVI) fuera de León, Edilesa, Trobajo del Camino (León), p. 286.
- HAYES, Richard James (1958): "Contemporary Collectors XVIII: The Chester Beatty Library", nº 7, Book Collector, pp. 253-264.
- HORTON, Charles (2003): Alfred Chester Beatty: From Miner to Bibliophile, Townhouse, Dublín.
- WILSON, Arthur J. (1985): The Life & Times of Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, Cadogan Publications, Londres.
Record manager
Isabel Escalera FernándezCitation:
Isabel Escalera Fernández, "Pauline Epistles, with commentary by Petrus Lombardus" in Nostra et Mundi. Cultural Heritage from Castile and Leon around the world, Fundación Castilla y León, 2025. https://inventario.nostraetmundi.com/en/work/540
