Wisdom Woman

From the exhibition:
Illuminating the Word: The Saint John’s Bible

New Mexico History Museum

Wisdom Woman, Donald Jackson, 2006. The Saint John’s Bible, Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota.

Hand-ground ink and pigments, casein and watercolor, shell gold and gold leaf, platinum leaf  on gum ammoniac/acrylic medium, calfskin vellum.

The illumination by Donald Jackson and calligraphy by scribe Brian Simpson are from the Wisdom of Solomon 8:17 – 10:13. The illumination accompanies the prayer of Solomon, the wise king and son of David, calling on God to send wisdom to help him. The passage again stresses the eternal nature of wisdom - present at the beginning of time when the heavens and earth were made; Wisdom is elevated to full divinity.

(Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Catholic Edition, © 1993, 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.)


Note: Representative image at left is often cropped for display purposes. Downloaded high-resolution images are not cropped.