Artwork Page for Text, folio 261 (verso), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

Details / Information for Text, folio 261 (verso), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

Text, folio 261 (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 1942.152.261.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.
This vertical vellum page features rows of Greek script in dark brown ink. Sections of large, widely spaced letters alternate with dense blocks of smaller handwriting, accented by red and gold highlights. On the left, stacked parchment edges mark the binding. The cream-colored surface is weathered with mottled light brown stains. The text flows down the page in varying densities, combining bold, rhythmic strokes with compact marginal markings across the ancient vellum.

Text, folio 261 (verso), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

c. 1000–1100

Byzantium, Constantinople

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