Trinity Apocalypse
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The Trinity Apocalypse is an illuminated manuscript containing the Book of Revelation, a commentary on Revelation and a biographical sketch of Saint John. Produced in England around 1260,[1] or perhaps somewhat earlier, it is now in Cambridge at Trinity College, for which it is named.[2]
The language of the text of the Trinity Apocalypse, including all its captions, is Anglo-Norman French.[3] The commentary is an abridged translation of the 9th-century Latin commentary by Berengaudus.[4] This particular abridgement is not found in any other manuscript.[5] The entire text of the manuscript is by the same scribe.[6]
The first section of the manuscript is a series of scenes from the life of Saint John with explanatory text. Revelation and a commentary follow. The final section is another series of scenes from the life of Saint John with explanatory text.[3] There is a total of thirty scenes from the life of John.[7] The explanatory text consists of titles, inscriptions within the pictures and a short two-paragraph text.[8] These texts are unique and were not copied from any known source, but the legendary life of John they portray is derived ultimately from the 2nd-century Acts of John via Pseudo-Abdias and the Legenda Aurea.[9]
In the illustrations of Revelation, the new mendicant orders, the Franciscans and Dominicans, are represented. They were seen as the fulfillment of the Two Witnesses prophecy of chapter 11.[6] Each of the Four Horsemen gets a miniature of its own,[10] as does each blast of the Seven Trumpets.[11]
The pictures on the final leaf of the manuscript are unfinished. They were executed by a different and inferior artist.[12]
The Trinity Apocalypse is a deluxe production for a patron of high rank. Internal evidence points to a laywoman with connections to the Franciscans. M. R. James suggested Henry III's queen, Eleanor of Provence, who was in England between 1236 and 1291.[13]
