century.9 Nevertheless, in his catalogue of the Bibles, he acknowledges the presence of

two sets of folios (Noah' s Ark and the Life and Passion of Christ) that, on stylistic

grounds, he considers to be from the 11th century. However, as we will see, this date

seems to be too early for the stylistic characteristics represented in these folios.

 Another art historian, Dominguez Bordona writing in 1962, originally considered

the Italian text of the Bible of Avila to be a product of the 10th century, but in later works

he wisely revised his position, and placed it in the 12th century.10 However, Bordona does

not discuss the dating of the Spanish section of the manuscript, nor the independent

production and provenance of the three folios with the Life and Passion of Christ.

 Garrison, writing from 1953 to 1961, was more precise in his dating of the Italian

section of the manuscript, and was also the first scholar to trace the origin of the Bible of

Avila. He believed that the initial decoration of the bible could be traced to a master,

called the Avila Bible Master, in the Umbro-Roman region of Italy during the last quarter

of the twelfth century." However, in his study, Garrison neglected to mention the

Spanish section of the manuscript and the six folios with the Life and Passion of Christ.

Maria Rodriguez Velasco, a Spanish art historian, agrees with Garrison's assessment of

the dating of the Italian section of the manuscript.12 However, in contrast to Garrison and



9, Samuel Berger, Histoire de la Vulgate Pendantddd~~~~~ddddd~~~~ les Premiers Siecles du M~oyen Age,
Paris: Hachette et cie, 1893, pp. 23-24.

10 Dominguez Bordona, J., Codices miniados expa~ibles,~ Catalogo de la Exposicion del
XVI Congreso, Barcelona, 1962, p. 56.

"1 Garrison, E.B., History of M~edieval Italianiiiiiiii~~~~~~~~ Painting, 1993, pp. 59-60.

12 Rodriguez Velasco, M., "Iconografia del Nuevo Testamento en la Biblia de Avila,"
1999, pp. 353-367. In this essay she agreed with the date provided by Garrison. Based on
this assumption she placed the production and addition of the Spanish section of the Bible