July 16, 2023, column  from the Amarillo Globe-News:

'Painted pages' in Canadian showcases biblical manuscripts

By Mike Haynes

                The Citadelle Art Museum in Canadian always is worth a visit with its permanent collection, regular traveling exhibits and the mansion itself, which houses most of the art and is a part of the city’s history.

                Kathy and I had a special reason for making the two-hour drive from Amarillo to Canadian, though.

Built in 1910 as First Baptist Church, the main building was a Church of Christ worship place from 1955 to 1975, then was turned into the home of Dr. Malouf and Therese Abraham and their family. After 30 years as their residence, the Abrahams made the Citadelle a public museum to showcase their extensive art collection that ranges from “Yo Aqui No Dire Nada” by concept artist Andres Martinez to the Norman Rockwell original, “First Day of School.”

My wife and I were there last month to see about 35 colorful “Painted Pages,” an exhibit of illuminated manuscripts from the 1200s to the 1700s, ranging from a Bible page measuring 5 by 7½ inches with tiny Latin letters to a two-page spread of musical notes and words that’s 44 inches wide and 31 inches tall.

 The exhibit, on loan from the Reading, Pennsylvania, Public Museum, will run through Nov. 18. Check thecitadelle.org or call 806-323-8899 for opening dates and hours.

The miniature Bible leaf is from a book handwritten with an inked bird quill on vellum (treated animal skin) in France around the year 1240. The black letters are less than 1/16^th of an inch high. The transcriber of this document either used a magnifying glass or had superb eyesight.

The exhibit’s description says, “The precision and beauty of the text executed in so small a scale … are among the wonders in book history.” The small Bibles were created by young friars of the Dominican Order, and others were produced in Paris workshops.

On the other end of the size spectrum are two adjoining pages (a bifolio) from a Spanish choir book dating from 1400 to 1450. About the size of our flat-screen TV, it also was intended to be seen from a distance.

Exhibit information indicates the manuscript was part of a 125-pound choir book first used at a monastery in Granada, Spain. Its description reads, “The impressively large format was used because it needed to be seen by groups of singers during the church service.”

Both of those examples are relatively simple visually, but the exhibit includes spectacular artwork, such as a miniature portrait of the Virgin and Child that adorns a page from a Flemish Book of Hours, or devotional book. The page, created in Bruges, Belgium, between 1480 and 1490, includes elaborate vine-stem borders and is enhanced with gold leaf.

My only disappointment at the Citadelle was missing an Esther scroll from the 1700s. We toured the exhibit soon after it opened, and the scroll wasn’t on display yet.

The Hebrew scroll was done with ink on sheep or goat skin, and Rabbi Brian Michelson of Reading, Pennsylvania, wrote, “It is fairly certain this is Sephardic in origin, used in the Middle East, Northern Africa, or perhaps Spain. … The ink recipe used for this and other sacred scrolls was invented in the fifth century A.D.”

The ink provided at a table in the Citadelle’s exhibit room is more modern – in the form of Sharpie pens along with brushes and colorful paint. Visitors could sit down and create their own art on white note cards. Kathy did a fine job embellishing a black “H” with green, gold and red.

“Painted Pages” originated from the collection of Otto Ege (1888-1951) of Reading, who sold sets of manuscript leaves to universities and libraries, often breaking up books to sell or display individual leaves, a controversial practice. His justification:

“Surely to allow a thousand people ‘to have and to hold’ an original manuscript leaf, and to get a thrill and understanding that comes only from actual and frequent contact with these art heritages, is justification enough for the scattering of fragments. …”

That wish for as many people as possible to see his manuscripts mirrors the desire of the monks, scribes and others who spent years creating them hundreds of years ago. They wanted to spread God’s Word as far as possible. 

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                I can’t end this column without acknowledging a number. My grandfather was big on calculations. He could do complicated math in his head, he told his grandkids the dates of important family milestones and, after his eyesight kept him from doing much work, he counted steps when out walking, long before watches that do it for you.

                So I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that this is the 500^th “Faith” column I’ve written for this newspaper. The first one ran on June 26, 1997 – just 15 weeks and three days before Grandad John died at age 95.