The Morgan Picture Bible, a.k.a. “The Crusader Bible” is one of the pinnacles of 13th-century French Gothic illumination. Regardless whether it was commissioned by the saint-king Louis IX of France, as many art historians have argued, the 283 gorgeously painted illustrations certainly characterize the zeal of the crusader movement in Europe. In it, artists have rendered in tight space multiple scenes from the Hebrew Bible. However, the real time period featured here is from much later: the idealization of knightly masculinity amidst chaotic and violent scenes of warfare reflect the values of the Christianized warrior elites of the Central Middle Ages. Here you see folio 10v, and a close-up. The details of Medieval warfare come through: a knight on horseback cleaves an opponent with chain-mail armor in two as castle siege warfare ensues. The type of siege engine depicted is unique to this manuscript, and you can see in the close-up that the end of it is being used as a gibbet where a king is hanged. Beautifully imagined, chaotic, violent, and ruthless — all adjectives that fit this era.
Source(s): You can view each page of the Morgan Picture Bible, New York: Library, Morgan Library M. 638, at “themorgan.org/collection/Crusader-Bible. Information about the siege engine taken from “Cultural Representation of Warfare in the Morgan Picture Bible,” by Richard Ables (PowerPoint presentation given at the School for Historical Studies, Institute for Advanced Study, March 3, 2008).
