Initial P: Saint Paul Giving a Letter to a Messenger

Within this large initial P, Saint Paul, at left, passes a scroll representing his letter to the Ephesians to a messenger, at right. God looks on from above, indicating that he is the source of Paul's text. The initial is supported by a young man who bends under its weight. This image may allude to a phrase from Paul's letter found at the bottom of the page to the left: "Bear one another's burdens; and so you will fulfill the laws of Christ." A dragon and a bird threaten the man from both sides with their mouths open and their wings outstretched. The dragon was a common symbol of evil in the Middle Ages, and its presence here suggests that the man faces moral troubles.