Artwork Page for Text, folio 363 (recto), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

Details / Information for Text, folio 363 (recto), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

Text, folio 363 (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 1942.152.363.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 manuscript page on aged, cream-colored vellum features dense rows of handwritten Greek script. Flowing brown characters pack the page, while larger orange-brown initials, some with gold accents, denote new sections. Handwritten numbers are scrawled in the top right corner. The vellum surface shows dark spots and signs of wear, with the loopy script occasionally fading or bleeding against the textured background.

Text, folio 363 (recto), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

c. 1000–1100

Byzantium, Constantinople

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