Dedication Page with Blanche of Castile and King Louis IX of France

Dedication Page with Blanche of Castile and King Louis IX of France, Scenes from the Apocalypse from Bibles moralisées. Gothic Europe. c. 1225–1245 C.E. Illuminated manuscript (ink, tempera, and gold leaf on vellum).

• PARIS WAS THE CENTER OF PRODUCTION OF FINE BOOKS. TRIPLE LOBED ARCHES AND MINIATURE CITYSCAPES; INSPIRED FROM STAIN GLASS WINDOWS
• The Bible moralisée, or moralized bibles, are a small group of illustrated bibles that were made in thirteenth-century France and Spain. These books are among the most expensive medieval manuscripts ever made because they contain an unusually large number of illustrations. These books were generally commissioned by members of royal families, as no one else would have been able to afford such luxury.
• owners of one Bible moralisée: Blanche of Castile and King Louis IX of France.
• Bible moralisée contain two texts: the biblical text and the commentary text, which is sometimes called a gloss. These commentary texts interpreted the biblical text for the thirteenth century reader. Commentary authors often created comparisons between people and events in the biblical world and people and events in the medieval world. In the case of the Bible moralisée, the commentary often draws parallels between the bad guys of the biblical text and those who were perceived as bad guys in the thirteenth century.
• ANTI SEMITIC THEMES; promoted hate and violence toward Jews in the later Middle Ages.