The Trinity Apocalypse (Trinity College Cambridge, MS R.16.2)

The Trinity Apocalypse has long been considered the finest manuscript of its kind. Containing the text of the Book of Revelation, accompanied by a commentary and a remarkable series of illustrations that depict the dream of John in vivid detail, it was written and illustrated in England in the mid-thirteenth century (with a text in French), and stands at the height of artistic achievement. Amidst the figures in the dream, there are people and animals familiar in contemporary life, depicted with a colour and vitality whose appeal speaks over the centuries.

The essays in this collection concern the creation of The Trinity Apocalyps and its subsequent history, including the circumstances surrounding its coming to its current home at Trinity College, Cambridge, in the seventeenth century. The contributors examine the extraordinarily close relationship between text and image in the Book of Revelation and how these images were interpreted in The Trinity Apocalypse. The first close examination of this extraordinary work, David McKitterick’s volume is accompanied by a CD containing the entire text, with an English translation.

David McKitterick is the librarian of Trinity College, University of Cambridge.