Best in show

Some of that evidence is well known, such as the Sutton Hoo gold belt buckle, found in Suffolk – the decoration of which is linked to illuminated manuscripts of the period – and the Alfred Jewel, found in Somerset, which reveals the intellectual life of the king’s court through its metalworking. 

There are the recent discoveries, too: the Lichfield Angel was found under the nave of its namesake cathedral in 2003 and is in incredible condition – complete with traces of the original pigment – due to it being buried for 1,000 years.  

Objects from the Staffordshire Hoard found nearby six years later not only show the skills of the people who made them, but also remind us of the increasing public interest in this period. 

But not all new discoveries have emerged from the ground. The Bodmin Gospels book from Brittany has been in the British Library’s collection for 200 years, but it was only recent multispectral imaging by our conservation scientists that revealed manumissions recording the freeing of Cornish slaves. 

Of all the exhibits, I’m most excited to have the Codex Amiatinus back in this country. One of the great treasures of Anglo-Saxon England, this giant bible was made at the beginning of the eighth century in Bede’s monastery at Wearmouth-Jarrow, County Durham, and taken to Italy as a gift for the pope in 716, where it has remained ever since. 

It took a lot of persuasion for the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana in Florence to allow its return, but I think it was swayed somewhat by the prospect of it being displayed alongside other outstanding manuscripts, such as the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Beowulf saga. 

I first saw the codex in Florence in 2015. I was taken into a room to watch two assistants carry the colossal book in. Seeing it face-to-face was breathtaking. 

The pages are more than half a metre tall and the spine is 30cm thick. Some 500 animal skins would have been needed for the 1,000 parchment leaves that fold into 2,000 pages of text. 

It is lovely to display it with the seventh-century Saint Cuthbert Gospel, the oldest European book to survive fully intact and which was also made at Wearmouth-Jarrow. It weighs just 162 grams and sits easily in the palm of your hand.  

The British Library saved it for the nation, after fundraising for the £9m purchase price, in 2012. This is what started us thinking about mounting a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition about the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.”

Interview by John Holt. Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Art, Word, War is at London’s British Library until 19 February