Artwork Page for Text, folio 253 (recto), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

Details / Information for Text, folio 253 (recto), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

Text, folio 253 (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 1942.152.253.a
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 vertically oriented manuscript page on cream vellum is inked with three horizontal sections of dark brown Greek script. Small, dense lettering fills the top and bottom, while the middle section uses larger characters. Two dark initials mark the left margin, and the number "253" appears in the upper right. The rippled, weathered surface is marked by scattered spots of dark brown discoloration, reflecting its age and handmade quality.

Text, folio 253 (recto), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

c. 1000–1100

Byzantium, Constantinople

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