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Workshops, talks and readings during the months of March and April will highlight the history and use of illumination and other techniques in the creation of The Saint John’s Bible, as a copy of the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles visits Grace Episcopal Church in Lexington. The bible itself will be present to be examined and experienced at all events, which are outlined below.
March 12, 5:30 p.m. – The copy of The Saint John’s Bible will visit the Piovano Room at the Lexington branch of the Rockbridge Regional Library, with a video presentation of the historic project begun in 1996 and completed in 2011. Visitors will learn about the rare materials and cuttingedge technologies that went into the creation of the original and its traveling copies, and will have a chance to see the copy up close.
March 15, 10 a.m. – Father Rich Workowski, a Roanoke area illuminator, will bring his work to Lexington for a talk and demonstration at the Grace Episcopal Parish Hall, ground floor. Attendees will gain insight into how he developed his illumination process, using media including watercolor and pen and ink, and learn how they may do the same.
March 22, 10 a.m. – A calligraphy workshop will allow participants to try their hands at the art practiced by the scribes who hand-lettered the 1,100-plus pages of The Saint John’s Bible original. The workshop, in the church parish hall, will give participants a sense of the skill involved and a chance to complete their own calligraphy sample.
March 29, 1 p.m. – Professor George Bent of the Washington and Lee University Art Department will speak on how the tradition of manuscript illumination arose in the Middle Ages and changed in the early Renaissance. A recent digital architectural project by Dr. Bent, “Florence As It Was,” may be seen at https://florenceasitwas.wlu. edu/.
The Saint John’s Bible will also be available for visitors in the church each Thursday from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. March 6 through April 10, except March 20. For more information or to schedule a visit at another time, call (540) 4634981, or email office@gracelexva. org. The church will also host an illumination workshop on April 5, and a workshop at the library April 29.
