In Wisdom of Solomon, chapters 10-11 recount the history of Wisdom from creation through the Israelites’ stay in the desert, making reference to major events in Genesis and Exodus. These events are portrayed in this illumination’s first three panels; viewers familiar with The Saint John’s Bible will recognize various elements. Some elements are changed slightly to tie this illumination to the Wisdom books or to the concept of wisdom.
In The Art of The Saint John’s Bible, Susan Sink describes the panels:
In the first panel the seven pieces from the Creation illumination are put in various widths, emphasizing the cycles of the moon associated with Wisdom, and the creation of humans, along with the coral snake representing the Fall. The raven of the first panel…is complemented by the dove in the second [from the story of the Flood, a second creation story], a symbol of the spirit. […] [In the third panel] The image is of the column of fire by which God led Israel out of Egypt. (Vol. 2, pp. 43-44)
She draws the reader’s attention to the imagery of destruction as well as creation:
The flash of color at the bottom of the second panel is a variation on the Job Frontispiece, imagery that continues into the [3rd] panel. In both cases, as with chaos in the first panel, destruction breaks the boundaries of the image. (Ibid.)
The fourth panel “takes a detail from the vision of Solomon’s temple in Isaiah that focuses on the abundance [that will be] provided to the people in the Promised Land” (Vol. 2, p. 45)
You will notice batons and frames of gold and silver connecting these panels; these represent “wisdom and divinity” according to Sink, and show that “These are not discrete events, but connected.” (Ibid.)