Artwork Page for Text, folio 407 (verso), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

Details / Information for Text, folio 407 (verso), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

Text, folio 407 (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 1942.152.407.b
Public Domain
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Location
105 Byzantine(not visible)
Print
?

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.
Dark brown ink on vertically oriented weathered vellum features rows of handwritten Greek script. To our left, the stacked edges of the bound book remain visible. Faint horizontal and vertical grid lines guide the text, while stylized characters mark the margin. Muted brown stains and fine wrinkles dapple the cream surface, with discoloration concentrated near the weathered edges.

Text, folio 407 (verso), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

c. 1000–1100

Byzantium, Constantinople

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