Routledge Revivals: The Illuminations of the Stavelot Bible (1978)

First published in 1978, this book offers a comprehensive study of the illuminations of the Stavelot Bible. The illuminations themselves have been recognized as occupying an important place in the incipient stage of the Romanesque style in the Meuse valley. The two volumes of the Bible contain no less than ninety-seven illuminated initials, almost half of them containing figures. Wayne Dynes’s study brings this into context by giving the historical background of the abbey of Stavelot and the manuscript itself, and then the exegetical and illustrative tradition shaping earlier illuminated Bibles. A third chapter examines the question of the assignment of the hands, providing at the same time a survey of the contents. This clears the way for discussions of areas of importance including the famous full-page composition of Christ in Majesty, and analyses key miniatures and groups of miniatures. This procedure serves to clarify the overall scheme of illumination and permit a comparison with earlier achievements in the history of Bible illumination.