Noah in the Holkham Bible


Noah in the Holkham Bible


  • Intro

    This famous illustrated bible is full of pictures of everyday life in the 1300s. The illustrations were originally used by a preacher to help him explain the stories to his audience. Each picture is accompanied by brief explanatory text in Anglo-Norman French - this was the language used by most English noblemen at the time.


    This image shows Noah releasing a raven and a dove, birds representing vice and virtue. The dove is shown again returning with an olive branch, a symbol of peace. In the water, we see the world submerged by the flood: there is a dead ox and two naked corpses, the raven picks out the eye of the dead horse, and the dove plucks an olive branch from an underwater mountain.


    Shelfmark: Add. MS 47682.

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