Artwork Page for Text, folio 338 (recto), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

Details / Information for Text, folio 338 (recto), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

Text, folio 338 (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 1942.152.338.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 page features dark brown Greek script across cream vellum. Rows of characters transition from widely spaced, bold lines at the top to dense, compressed script below. Reddish-brown initial characters anchor several sections, while faint ruling lines guide the horizontal flow. Delicate marginalia frames the main column, and a dark stain marks the right edge, contrasting with the fluid, rhythmic strokes of the ancient handwriting.

Text, folio 338 (recto), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

c. 1000–1100

Byzantium, Constantinople

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