St. Louis Bible

The St. Louis Bible (Spanish: Biblia de San Luis) is a 13th-century moralized Bible, produced in France. It appeared in three volumes, and is in the treasury of the Cathedral of Toledo. It was apparently copied between 1226 and 1236, judging from the royal portraits, though its first documentary evidence is in Alfonso's testament in 1284. It is in excellent condition, missing only final quire of the third volume, which is in the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York; this was detached already in the fifteenth century.

The Bible is named for the King Louis IX of France, later known as St. Louis, though it was executed while he was still a minor. It was apparently given to Alfonso X of Castile as a gift, either for his coronation in 1252 or as a dynastic exchange gift in 1266 or 1269.

Each page contains space divided into four unequal columns, two of text and two of illustrations. There are four medallions in each illustration column. In all, there are over 13,000 miniatures in the whole work.

It is being reproduced in facsimile by Moleiro Editor of Barcelona.

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