Original leaf from a medieval manuscript folio Bible with illuminations from the Johannes Grusch Workshop. France: Paris, c. 1247. Formerly owned by the Royal Abbey of St. Genevieve in Paris.
Latin gothic script, hand-written in brown ink, on animal vellum. (290 x 190 mm - 11.6 x 7.6")
Rubricated chapter numbers, initials and marginalia in red and blue. 50 lines of text in double columns. Two multi-line initials alternating in red and blue with intricate red & blue scrollwork that extends along the length of the text.
The large size of the page is unusual in 13th century Bible production!
This leaf contains text from Judges 14:12 – 16:21 (SAMSON & DALILA): “Quibus…” (And Samson said to them: I will propose to you a riddle, which if you declare unto me within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty shirts, and as many coats…Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness….He loved a woman, who dwelt in the valley of Sorec, and she was called Dalila. And the princes of the Philistines came to her, and said: Deceive him, & learn of him wherein his great strength lieth, and how we may be able to overcome him…he said to her: The razor hath never come upon my head, for I am a Nazarite, that is to say, consecrated to God from my mother’s womb; if my head be shaven, my strength shall depart from me, and I shall become weak, and shall be like other men…).
Presented in an archival 16x12'' mat
