Artwork Page for Text, folio 121 (verso), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

Details / Information for Text, folio 121 (verso), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

Text, folio 121 (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 1942.152.121.b
Public Domain
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Location
105 Byzantine(not visible)
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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.
An ink and tempera manuscript on vellum features Greek script on a vertical cream-colored page. Three horizontal blocks of dark brown text occupy the surface. The top section consists of dense, small lettering below a red header. The central section features larger, widely spaced characters starting with a decorative initial in red and gold on our left. A final section of tight script appears at the bottom. Faint brown stains mark the edges.

Text, folio 121 (verso), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

c. 1000–1100

Byzantium, Constantinople

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