Artwork Page for Text, folio 20 (recto), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

Details / Information for Text, folio 20 (recto), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

Text, folio 20 (recto), 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 1942.152.20.a
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.
A vertically oriented manuscript page features blocks of dark brown ink and tempera Greek script on cream vellum. Large, widely spaced characters alternate with dense blocks of smaller text. A decorative initial M begins the middle section, while a large O starts the bottom paragraph. A faded purple stain marks the top right corner, and small brown circular spots dot the wide right margin. The vellum's edges are uneven and worn.

Text, folio 20 (recto), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

c. 1000–1100

Byzantium, Constantinople

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