THE ARMA CHRISTI

The Bar Convent Arma Christi, a newly discovered medieval scroll, is now on display as the centrepiece of a major new exhibition here at the Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre but why is it so significant? Explore below to find out more!

The Bar Convent Arma Christi is a very rare text, one of only a handful that survive around the world. Even more significantly, it is one of the best-preserved examples ever found, and is the only one that features response texts after each verse of the poem, demonstrating that they may have been used in a different way to previously believed. Watch the video to find out more!

What is the Arma Christi scroll?

This illuminated medieval scroll is known as an Arma Christi, which refers to the images of objects associated with Christ’s journey to the cross. The text is a prayer poem known as ‘O Vernicle’ as it usually shows an image of St Veronica holding the cloth.

Why is the Bar Convent Arma Christi so significant?

The discovery is one of the best-preserved examples ever found, and is the only one that features response texts after each verse of the poem, demonstrating that they may have been used in a different way to previously believed.

Making Scrolls in Medieval England

Documents like the Bar Convent Arma Christi were not everyday objects in medieval England, but were expensive items commissioned by wealthy families. Every element had to be handmade by a skilled craftsman.

What is the Arma Christi scroll?

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This illuminated medieval scroll is known as an Arma Christi, which refers to the images of objects associated with Christ’s journey to the cross. The text is a prayer poem known as ‘O Vernicle’ as it usually shows an image of St Veronica holding the cloth (the Vernicle) at the beginning. The picture is a reference to the story of St Veronica, a woman who is said to have been moved with sympathy seeing Jesus carrying the cross to Calvary and gave him her veil so that he could wipe his face. When he returned the veil, the image of his face was miraculously captured on it. In medieval times the name Veronica was thought to derive from vera icon meaning ‘true image’.

The ‘Vernicle’ takes the reader on a journey through the Crucifixion story that focuses on the objects associated with key moments in Christ’s suffering leading up to his death. In the medieval period, these objects were collectively known as the ‘Arma Christi’, the weapons of Christ. These objects are seen as spiritual armour against the temptations of sin.

Why is the Bar Convent Arma Christi so significant?

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The discovery is one of the best-preserved examples ever found, and is the only one that features response texts after each verse of the poem, demonstrating that they may have been used in a different way to previously believed.

Up until now, only ten copies were known to have survived, produced in the 14^th and 15^th centuries, each one handmade by a number of skilled craftsmen. The Bar Convent Arma Christi is thought to be one of the last examples ever made, dating from around 1475.

The ten known scrolls have been subject to academic and ecclesiastical scrutiny for many decades, sharing a unique insight into religious iconography and devotional practices. However, the Bar Convent Arma Christi may turn conventional thinking on its head, as the responses, written in red, demonstrate that this was scroll was likely used in communal worship as well as private prayer.

The Bar Convent Arma Christi is the only one currently on public display in the world. Other examples are kept at:

Bodleian Library, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
British Library, London, UK
Scottish Catholic Archives, Edinburgh, UK
Stonyhurst College, Clitheroe, UK
Beinecke Library, New Haven Yale University, USA
Huntington Library, California, USA
The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, USA
Redemptorist Archives of the Baltimore Province, Philadelphia, USA

Making Scrolls in Medieval England

Documents like the Bar Convent Arma Christi were not everyday objects in medieval England, but were expensive items commissioned by wealthy families. Every element had to be handmade by a skilled craftsman:

A parchment maker would skin, stretch and dry sheepskin for several days before cutting it to the desired shape. In this case two long pieces (known as membranes) were cut and stitched together to make a piece approx 6 foot long.

Then a skilled artist would sketch out and draw the images before painting them and adding the illuminations (gold and silver details). Even the paints had to be individually mixed by hand using ground minerals and organic dyes extracted from plants, mixed with egg whites for stability. Usually the images were the last thing to be added to the manuscript, but there are clear examples on our scroll of where the illustrator had not left quite enough space for the scribe, suggesting that the images had been done first.

Finally, a scribe or writer has added each verse of the poem using a quill and ink, mixing a different ink for the words in red, and probably using a separate quill. Quills were made from goose or swan feathers, hollowed out and cut with a small slit at the top to allow the ink to flow through. In one or two places, the artist or illustrator has been given limited space, suggesting that perhaps scribe and illustrator were working together simultaneously?