Artwork Page for Text, folio 1 (verso), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

Details / Information for Text, folio 1 (verso), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

Text, folio 1 (verso), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

c. 1000–1100
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Byzantium, Constantinople

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Medium
ink, tempera, and gold on vellum; leather binding
Measurements
Sheet: 28 x 23 cm (11 x 9 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1942.152.1.b
Public Domain
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Location
105 Byzantine(not visible)
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Did You Know?

Gospel Books were carried in procession through Byzantine churches.

Description

Each of the four gospels in this book opens on a page with brilliantly illuminated borders depicting the author of the text as well as birds-principally peacocks, symbols of the immortality of the soul-and fountains, representing the fountain of life and the salvation of the soul. This volume consists of 428 leaves with texts in Greek. Its level of sophistication suggests that it was probably written and decorated in a monastery in Constantinople.
A vertical vellum page is framed by a dark, weathered leather binding. Its cream-colored surface is deeply creased, showing peeling, layered edges. Mottled stains in reddish-brown and gray mar the upper portion. A circular purple stamp reading “DOUANE CENTRALE PARIS” marks the lower right. The heavily wrinkled texture of the parchment contrasts with the dark leather border, emphasizing the object's aged and tactile material quality.

Text, folio 1 (verso), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

c. 1000–1100

Byzantium, Constantinople

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