Artwork Page for Text, folio 91 (recto), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

Details / Information for Text, folio 91 (recto), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

Text, folio 91 (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 1942.152.91.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 vertical ink and tempera page on vellum features three horizontal sections of Greek script. The central section displays large, bold characters in dark brown starting with a decorative gold and red initial. Densely packed, smaller script fills the top and bottom blocks. Red headings and marginal notations accent the text, while mottled brown stains mar the cream vellum. The ink varies in weight, appearing heavy in the center and more delicate in the margins.

Text, folio 91 (recto), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

c. 1000–1100

Byzantium, Constantinople

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