‘Escaped ransacking, wars, fires, revolutions’: Priceless ninth-century bible returns to Swiss homeland for rare exhibition after 1,200 years

DELÉMONT (Switzerland), March 8 — The Moutier-Grandval Bible, an illustrated ninth-century masterpiece considered one of the finest manuscripts in the world, is back in Switzerland, where it miraculously survived the ages in impeccable condition.

The priceless Bible was produced in Tours in France in around 830-840, before making its way to Moutier-Grandval Abbey, in the mountainous Jura region in northwestern Switzerland.

Now in the care of the British Library, the 22-kilogramme manuscript is being loaned for three months to the Jura Museum of Art and History in the region’s tiny capital Delemont.

It is only the second time it has been loaned from London, after being shown at the Jura Museum in 1981, when 32,000 people flocked to see it.

“We could even call it a miracle: this mediaeval masterpiece has survived the ages, the circumstances of history; it has escaped ransacking, wars, fires, revolutions, and has reached us in remarkable condition,” said the museum’s director Nathalie Fleury.

When it returned on Tuesday, “the emotion was palpable: more than 1,200 years of history were in our hands”, she said.

Around 100 Bibles were produced during the same period in Tours, of which 18 have survived intact, including only three that are illustrated. The Moutier-Grandval Bible is the best-known.

A woman walks past the sign announcing the view of the exhibition ‘Sur les traces d’n chef-d’euvre: La Bible de Moutier-Granval’ or ‘On the trail of a masterpiece’ at the Mus’ jurassien d’rt et d’istoire (MJAH), in Delemont, the capital of the Swiss canton of Jura on February 6, 2025. — AFP pic

‘Joy, awe and wonder’

The Bible is going on show in the museum’s basement, behind a thick steel door. Sealed inside a glass cabinet, it is the only object in the bare, darkened room.

It is open on the first page, showing a vivid illustration of the story of Adam and Eve — its colours still remarkably bright — from the Book of Genesis.

For optimum conservation conditions, only five people at a time are allowed in the room, for five minutes only.

“The Moutier-Grandval Bible really is a masterpiece of scribal and artistic endeavour,” said Claire Breay, head of ancient, mediaeval and early modern manuscripts at the British Library.

“It is one of the greatest treasures of the British Library,” where it is periodically displayed on rotation.

Head of Ancient, Medieval and Early Modern Manuscripts at the British Library, Claire Breay, speaks to the press during the press day for the exhibition ‘Sur les traces d’n chef-d’euvre: La Bible de Moutier-Granval’ or ‘On the trail of a masterpiece’ at the Mus’ jurassien d’rt et d’istoire (MJAH), in Delemont, the capital of the Swiss canton of Jura on February 6, 2025. — AFP pic

“This spectacular, 1,200-year-old, hand-written Bible, with this wonderful decoration, is still bringing people together and bringing, joy, awe and wonder to everyone who sees it.”

The 450 leaves, or 900 pages, measure 50 by 37.5 centimetres, with text written in two columns of 50 to 52 lines each. The skins of 210 to 225 sheep were required to produce the parchment.

It contains four full-page illustrations and around 20 copyist monks worked on the text, written in Latin in highly legible Carolingian minuscule script.

“It’s very emotional to see it in real life: it’s completely different from seeing a reproduction of it in a book or online,” said book historian and co-curator Angeline Rais.

“People can see how big it is, how beautiful the colours and the gold still are,” she told AFP.

A detailed view of the Moutier-Grandval Bible, a 9th century illustrated bible, one of the oldest fully preserved bibles in the world, during the press day for the exhibition ‘Sur les traces d’n chef-d’euvre: La Bible de Moutier-Granval’ or ‘On the trail of a masterpiece’ at the Mus’ jurassien d’rt et d’istoire (MJAH), in Delemont, the capital of the Swiss canton of Jura on February 6, 2025. — AFP pic

Unravelling the mysteries

“There’s a lot of mystery around the Bible,” said Rais. How it came to Moutier-Grandval remains uncertain.

The Bible was left behind by canons and forgotten about until it was found, according to legend, in a Delemont attic in the late 1810s or early 1820s. It was sold to an antiques dealer in 1822.

It was eventually sold to the British Museum in 1836 for £750, or US$93,600 (RM412,988) in today’s money.

With much of its back story so little known, the Bible even today remains shrouded in a degree of mystery: how it was transported from London to Delemont, and all matters of security, remain a guarded secret.

Rais said it had “enormous” resonance for the region.

The founding of Moutier-Grandval Abbey, in around 640, is seen as the starting chapter in local history.

“There is a really, really strong link between the community here of Delemont, of Jura, and the Bible,” Rais told AFP.

The exhibition opens to the public from today until June 8.

Research continues on the Bible, notably on the parchment and the pigments used in the illustrations.

The museum’s experts hope that the Bible will be displayed in the Jura again, and when it does, that studies will have finally unravelled the mysteries of its long journey. — AFP