Images: Biblissima; Wikimedia Commons (front; back); Mundragore (front)
Clavis number: ECMA 132
Other descriptors: Lupicin Diptych Ivory Book Covers; Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Lat. 9384 (manuscript description with bibliography at Gallica)
Location: Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
Category: book covers
Related literature: Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, Protevangelium of James
Featured characters and locations: Bethlehem, Jesus Christ, Joseph (of Nazareth), Judith (servant), Lazarus, Mary (Virgin), Paul (apostle), Peter (apostle).
1. DESCRIPTION
Material: ivory
Size: 37 × 30.5 cm.
Images: front: two flying angels surrounding the cross and a crown, bearded Christ holding a book, throne surrounded by Saints Peter and Paul; side scenes inspired by the Gospels: on the left healing of the blind man and the paralytic, on the right healing of the hemorrhaging woman and a man possessed; below meeting with the Samaritan woman and the resurrection of Lazarus.
Back: two flying angels surrounding the cross and a crown (as on the front), Virgin Mary and Child seated, framed by two angels; side scenes: Annunciation and Anna with her servant Judith, on the left, and on the right the trial of bitter water and the journey to Bethlehem; below: Christ’s entry into Jerusalem.
Date: 6th cent.
Provenance: Constantinople? The current manuscript was created in northern or eastern France in the 9th cent. (835–845?).
2. RELATION TO APOCRYPHAL LITERATURE
The Lupicin Gospels Cover features four tales from the Protevangelium of James. The first is an exchange between Anna and her servant Judith (Juthine):
Now the great day of the Lord drew near, and Juthine her slave said to her, “How long will you humble your soul? Look, the great day of the Lord is approaching, and you are not allowed to grieve. But take this headband, which the mistress of the work gave me; I am not allowed to wear it because I am your slave and it has a royal insignia.” And Anna said, “Away from me! I will never do these things. The Lord God has greatly humbled me. Who knows if a wicked-doer has given this to you, and you have come to make me share in your sin.” And Juthine her slave said, “Why would I curse you? Because you have not listened to me? The Lord God has closed your womb to prevent you from bearing fruit in Israel.” (2:2–6; trans. Lily Vuong, The Protevangelium of James [Early Christian Apocrypha 7; Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2019])
The depiction of the annunciation of the Virgin is related to the Protevangelium of James, particularly the mention of the materials to spin the purple thread for the temple veil:
And she took the water pitcher and went out and filled it with water. And behold, there was a voice saying, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you. You are blessed among women.” And Mary looked all around her, to the right and left, to see from where the voice was coming. And she began trembling and went into her house and put the water pitcher down. And taking up the purple (thread) she sat down on her chair and began to spin the purple (thread). And behold, an angel stood before her saying, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor before the Master of all. You will conceive from his Word.” But when she heard this, Mary doubted herself and said, “If I conceive by the Lord, the living God, will I give birth like all other women give birth?” (11:1–6; trans. Vuong; see also Ps.-Mt. 8:32–36)
One panel depicts the water trial:
And the high priest said, “Give back the virgin you received from the temple of the Lord.” And Joseph burst into tears. And the high priest said, “I will have you drink the Lord’s water of conviction,’ and it will reveal your sin before your own eyes.” And the high priest took (the water) and made Joseph drink it and sent him away to the wilderness, but he came back whole. And then he made the child (Mary) drink it and also sent her away into the wilderness, but she too came back whole. And all the people were amazed because their sin was not revealed. And the high priest said, “If the Lord God did not reveal your sin, then neither do I condemn you.” And he let them go. And Joseph took Mary and returned home, rejoicing and praising the God of Israel (Prot. Jas. 16; trans. Vuong; see also Ps.-Mt. 12)
And the last is an image of the journey to Bethlehem:
And he saddled his donkey and sat her on it; and his son led it while Samuel followed behind. As they approached the third mile, Joseph turned around and saw that she was sad. And he said to himself, “Maybe the child in her is causing her uneasiness.” Then Joseph turned around again and saw her laughing and said to her, “Mary, why is it that I see your face laughing one moment, but then sad another moment?” And she replied, “Joseph, because my eyes see two peoples: one lamenting and mourning and the other one cheerful and rejoicing. And when they came to the halfway point, Mary said to him, “Joseph, take me down from the donkey because the child inside me is pressing his weight on me to come forth.” And he took her down from there and said to her, “Where can I take you to hide your shameful nakedness because this place is wilderness.” (17:5–11; trans. Vuong; see also Ps.-Mt. 13:1–4)
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cartlidge, David R. and J. Keith Elliott. Art and the Christian Apocrypha. London and New York: Routledge, 2001 (pp. 71–72, figs. 3.9 and 3.10).
Gaborit-Chopin, Danielle. Ivoires médiévaux Ve–XVe siècle. Paris: Éditions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, 2003 (no. 10, 13, 14; p. 32).
Jacobs, Philip Walker. “The Reception History and Interpretation of the New testament Portrayals of Joseph the Carpenter in Nativity and Infancy Portrayals in Early Christian and Early Medieval Narratives and Art from the Second Century to the Ninth Century CE.” PhD diss. Bangor University, 2013 (pp. 231–35, 242–44).
Kateusz, Ally. Mary and Early Christian Women: Hidden Leadership. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019 (pp. 109).
Lowden, John. “The Word Made Visible: The Exterior of the Early Christian Book as Visual Argument.” Pages 13–47 in The Early Christian Book. Edited by William E. Klingshirn and Linda Safran. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America, 2007 (pp. 40–41).
Natanson, Joseph. Early Christian Ivories. London: Alec Tirani, 1953 (fig. 50).
Rice, David T. The Art of Byzantium. London: Hirmer, 1959 (p. 9, fig. 67).
Schiller, Gertrud. Iconography of Christian Art. 2 vols. Trans. Janet Seligman. Greenwich, CT: New York Graphic Society, Ltd., 1971–1972 (vol. 1, p. 57).
Steenbock, Frauke. Der kirchliche Prachteinband im frühen Mittelalter: Von den Anfängen bis zum ßeginn der Gothik. Berlin: Deutscher Verlag für Kunstwissenschaft, 1965 (pp. 76–77).
Volbach, Wolfgang Fritz. Elfenbeinarbeiten der Spätantike und des frühen Mittelalters. 1952. 3rd ed. Mainz am Rhein: Philipp von Zabern, 1976 (no. 145, pp. 71–72).
4. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Siri, Francesco. “Prix Hubert Heilbronn: Les Évangiles dits de Saint-Lupicin.” Hypotheses. Posted 27 December 2016. Online: https://manuscripta.hypotheses.org/138.
Entry created by Zahra Teymouri, under the supervision of Tony Burke, York University, 29 March 2021.