Artwork Page for Text, folio 345 (verso), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

Details / Information for Text, folio 345 (verso), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

Text, folio 345 (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 1942.152.345.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.
A vertically oriented, cream-colored vellum page is inked with black script in three horizontal sections. The central register features bold characters, while the top and bottom are densely packed with fine handwriting. Small, reddish-brown initials punctuate the left margin. On the far left, the thick, layered edges of the bound book block create a repetitive texture. A translucent vertical strip overlays the inner gutter of the aged surface.

Text, folio 345 (verso), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

c. 1000–1100

Byzantium, Constantinople

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