In 1912, Charles Lang Freer, founder of the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., put two rare antique biblical manuscripts on public view in his Detroit home. Over 100 years later, the Washington Codex, one of the oldest manuscripts of the four Gospels in the world, and an ancient parchment volume of Deuteronomy and Joshua, are on view in the Freer’s Peacock Room, which was decorated by James McNeill Whistler in 1876.
The last time the manuscripts were exhibited was in 2006, when they were part of a landmark exhibition of Bibles created before the year 1000. Due to their extreme sensitivity to light and fragility, the Peacock Room’s windows will remain shuttered on the third Thursday of each month.
The manuscripts will be on view at the Freer Gallery of Art through February 16, 2014.
