Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese,
28 Mar 2013
28 Mar 2013
Renowned calligrapher Donald Jackson used ancient materials and techniques to create contemporary illuminated books of St John's Bible.
An illuminated handwritten version of St John's Bible using ancient traditional materials such as hand-ground pigments, Chinese stick ink, goose and turkey quills and calf-skin vellum has been 15 years in the making. Now Donald Jackson MVO, the Queen's calligrapher and the man behind the first contemporary illuminated Bible since the invention of the printing press more than 500 years ago, is in Australia. Next week he will give a public lecture about the techniques and influences of this remarkable $8 million project.
The Australian Catholic University (ACU) which is the only institution in the Southern Hemisphere to have purchased one of the rare 299 facsimiles of the St John's Bible Heritage edition, will host a public lecture by Donald Jackson on Wednesday, 3 April.
Held in ACU's Mary Mackillop Auditorium at ACU's North Sydney campus the city's theological scholars, historians, art lovers and calligraphers as well as the general public will have a unique opportunity to hear one of the world's leading calligraphers from the Scriptorium in Wales where artists and calligraphers are completing the final two volumes of the seven volume work.
ACU first university in Southern Hemisphere to purchase illuminated rare set of St John's Bible
"When ACU made the decision to purchase one of the facsimiles of the St John's Bible Heritage edition we regarded this not only as a great gift for our students and the staff at the university but as a gift to the nation," says Fr Anthony Casamento, Director of Identity and Mission at ACU, and explains that Vice Chancellor Greg Craven is a keen supporter of Catholic universities tradition of patronage and promoters of the cultural arts; a tradition that dating back t o the Renaissance and the flowering of sacred music, painting and the arts.
"The mission of the St John's Bible Heritage Edition is to ignite the spiritual imagination of people around the world, just as the illuminated manuscripts by monks centuries ago used exquisite imagery and symbolism to bring the Bible and God's teachings to life," he says and points out that the illuminations in each special and rare edition are not "illustrations but spiritual meditations on a text."
"This is a very Benedictine approach to the Scriptures," Fr Casamento says and as an example points to the way gold leaf is used throughout each of the seven volumes, explaining that gold in ancient illuminations by monks in Medieval Europe was the symbol for the presence of God.
The intricate process of creating St John's Bible in seven illuminated books
"This is beautifully shown in the first book of the Bible in the St John's Heritage Edition with each of the seven days of Genesis divided into seven columns, and the last column covered in gold to show the presence of God," he explains. The Heritage edition 160 illuminations also include contemporary imagery inspired by today's world.
In the book of John, the opening words: "In the beginning there was the word and the word became flesh," the double helix of the human DNA is used to illustrate the connection between God and Man.
The creator and team of calligraphers and artists have also drawn inspiration from contemporary sources as well as the art of ancient peoples such as Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and their distinctive and ancient artworks.
Although Donald Jackson has dreamed of creating an illustrated Bible since 1970, it wasn't until 1998 that he was commissioned by St John's Benedictine Abbey and St John's University at Collegeville in Minnesota, USA that the project finally got underway.
Backed by a team of scripture scholars, theologians, experts on illuminated manuscripts as well as Donald Jackson's own team of calligraphers and artists, the seven volumes making up the contemporary Illuminated St John's Bible were finally completed in November 2011.
Limited editions of this great work continue to be hand-painted and created at Donald Jackson's Scriptorium in Wales . The first five volumes of the St John's Bible Heritage Edition have already arrived at ACU with the sixth volume due next month and the seventh and final volume in June this year.
The meticulously hand-written illuminated contemporary version of St John's Bible
"We will have one of the volumes on display at each of our campuses in North Sydney, Strathfield, Ballarat, Canberra, Brisbane and Melbourne with the seventh volume on display in the offices of ACU's Vice Chancellor," Fr Casamento says, adding that each year the volumes will rotate so that after seven years, students and staff will have been able to see each one seven volume religious work.
"But this amazing illuminated Bible is not just for students and the staff at ACU," he insists and reveals the University intends to lend some or all of these remarkable volumes for special exhibitions in Australia's national and state libraries, universities and theological institutions.
Along with ACU, other leading universities and art galleries and churches who have ordered or have already received the rare Heritage Edition of the illuminated St John's Bible are Yale University, Vassar College, Naples Museum of Art, London's historic St Martins in the Fields Church, Notre Dame of Maryland University, LA's Pepperdine University, the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, the Austin Public Library and the St Bartholomew Catholic Community.
To register to attend Donald Jackson's public lecture: Word and Image - Making Letters speak on Wednesday 3 April at ACU, North Sydney, at 3 pm log on to acuevents@acu.edu.au.
SHARED FROM ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY
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