Artwork Page for Text, folio 219 (verso), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

Details / Information for Text, folio 219 (verso), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

Text, folio 219 (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 1942.152.219.b
Public Domain
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Location
105 Byzantine(not visible)
Print
?

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 vertically oriented vellum page features Greek script in dark and reddish-brown ink. Decorative capital letters in gold leaf mark the start of passages. The layout transitions from large, spaced lettering at the top and bottom to a dense middle section. The aged, warm beige parchment shows faint stains and a binding edge, with loopy, rhythmic characters flowing across the surface, the ink occasionally softening or fading.

Text, folio 219 (verso), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

c. 1000–1100

Byzantium, Constantinople

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