Artwork Page for Text, folio 349 (recto), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

Details / Information for Text, folio 349 (recto), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

Text, folio 349 (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 1942.152.349.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 sheet of aged vellum is inked with dark brown Greek script. Several paragraphs feature larger, formal lettering starting with small gold initials on our left, while smaller cursive text fills the spaces between. Dark circular stains and faded red markings are scattered across the surface. In the top right corner are handwritten numbers. The parchment page is bound on our left, showing the edge of a manuscript book.

Text, folio 349 (recto), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

c. 1000–1100

Byzantium, Constantinople

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