Ceolfrid's gift to St Peter: the first quire of the Codex Amiatinus and the evidence of its Roman destination

Abstract

The Codex Amiatinus, the oldest extant complete Vulgate Bible, was sent from Wearmouth–Jarrow to Rome in June 716. This article begins by addressing one of the fundamental unanswered questions concerning the manuscript: the original order of its preliminary quire, where most of the decorative material in Amiatinus occurs. The most plausible arrangement of these folios is presented, based on study of their decorative and textual contents and the recently published results of the technical and chemical analyses undertaken in 1999–2001. The organization I propose allows new evidence to be discerned that the quire was planned from the outset to form part of a gift for the holy see. The article concludes by discussing the likely function of the Bible's famous portrait of Ezra copying scripture as a ‘mirror’ of the papal office, a picture intended to remind the pope who received Amiatinus of his own responsibilities in the Christian church.

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