Decoration from the Bible of Souvigny

According to one of the librarians who was able to see it before its 1833 restoration, the binding of the Bible of Souvigny was at the time made of oak wood covered with sow leather. It was additionally decorated with bronze, copper, and enamel ornaments of which most remain. The nineteenth century work, however, was so disastrous that it made it impossible to preserve the integrity of the binding, which later had to be taken to pieces.

The finely cast plates can nowadays be seen on a background of red velvet, while a plain, low-key modern binding provides protection for the manuscript. The circular plate depicted in the above illustration was featured at the center of the front cover.