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Leaf from a Lectionary with St. Matthew

1057–1063

Byzantium, Constantinople, 11th century

Tempera and gold on vellum

Sheet: 28.8 x 24.3 cm (11 5/16 x 9 9/16 in.); Framed: 52.4 x 39.7 cm (20 5/8 x 15 5/8 in.); Matted: 48.9 x 36.2 cm (19 1/4 x 14 1/4 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1942.1512

Location

not on view

Did you know?

Early Gospel lectionaries often had very costly treasure bindings in metalwork, sometimes with jewels and ivories.

Description

This leaf is from a lectionary (a book of gospel readings used in church services) that was presented to the Holy Trinity Monastery at Chalke in Constantinople by the Empress Katherine Komnene in 1063. The tools of the scribe's trade are laid out before the evangelists: a stylus (a pointed tool for writing, drawing, and engraving), a pair of dividers (a device resembling a compass, used for dividing lines and transferring measurements), pens, a knife, a burnisher (polishing tool), and inkpots. Portraits of the authors of the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—appear frequently in gospel books throughout the Christian world. Understood to be eyewitnesses to the texts they wrote, their presence in these books served to "authenticate" the gospels.

Provenance

-1942

Dikran G. Kelekian, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art

1942-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Oh

Citations

Charles Diehl. “L’Evengélaire de l’Impératice Catherine Commnène” Compte Rendu de Séances de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres (Paris, 1922) p. 248

Diehl, Charles, “Monuments Byzantins Inédits du Onzième Siècle” Art Studies: Medieval, Renaissance and Modern. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1927. p. 9, fig. 5

Clark, Kenneth W. A Descriptive Catalogue of Greek New Testament Manuscripts in America. 1937. pp. 122-3

Walters Art Gallery (Baltimore, Md.), and Dorothy Eugenia Miner. Early Christian and Byzantine Art, An Exhibition Held at the Baltimore Museum of Art, April 25-June 22 [1947]. Baltimore: Trustees of the Walters Art Gallery, 1947. Mentioned: cat. no. 700, Reproduced: pl. XCVIII

Milliken, William M. “Byzantine Manuscript Illumination” The Cleveland Museum of Art Bulletin 34 (March 1947) pp 50-56

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 84 archive.org

Oberlin College. Allen Memorial Museum. "Byzantine Manuscript Illumination : An Exhibition December 3-19." Allen Memorial Artmuseum. Bulletin V.15, No. 2, Winter (1958). Mentioned: cat. no. 3

Ricci, Seymour de, William Jerome Wilson, Christopher Urdahl Faye, and William Henry Bond. Supplement to the Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts: In the United States and Canada. New York, N.Y.: The Bibliographical Society of America, 1962. p. 428

Milliken, William Mathewson. Pages from Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts from the Xth to the Early XVIth Centuries: An Exhibition. Berkeley: University of California, 1963. Mentioned: cat. no. 5, Reproduced pl. VI.

Greece, and Council of Europe. Byzantine Art, a European Art. 2d ed. Athens, 1964. Mentioned: cat. no. 309

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 40 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 40 archive.org

Wixom, William D. “A Manuscript Painting from Cluny” Cleveland Museum of Art Bulletin LVI (April 1969) pp. 131-135

Vikan, Gary, and Kurt Weitzmann. Illuminated Greek Manuscripts from American Collections: An Exhibition in Honor of Kurt Weitzmann. Princeton (N.J.): Princeton Univ. Press, 1973. pp. 85-6

Furlan, Italo. "Aspetti di Cultura Greca a Venezia nell'XI Secolo: La Scuola di Salonicco e lo Stile Monumentale Protocomneno". Arte Veneta (1976) p. 31

Hamann-Mac Lean, Richard. Die Monumentalmalerei in Serbien und Makedonien. vom 11. bis zum frühen 14. Jahrhundert : Grundlegung zu einer Geschichte der mittelalterlichen Monumentalmalerei in Serbien und Makedonien [2] [2]. 1976. p. 84 & 253

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 42 archive.org

Netzer, Nancy. Cultural Interplay in the Eighth Century: The Trier Gospels and the Making of a Scriptorium at Echternach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. p. 96, 236, Pl. 92

Evans, Helen C. The Glory of Byzantium: Art an Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era A.D. 843-1261 ; [in Conjunction with the Exhibition "The Glory of Byzantium", Held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York from March 11 Through July 6, 1997]. New York, NY: Abrams, 1997. p. 103, Cat. No. 58 A

Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. pp. 83-85

Popova, O. S. Vizantiĭskai︠a︡ miniati︠u︡ra vtoroĭ poloviny X--nachala XII veka = The byzantine miniature from the second half of the 10th century to early 12th century. 2012. p. 256, fig. 224

Exposition internationale d'art byzantin. Exposition internationale d'art byzantin, 28 mai-9 juillet, 1931: [catalogue d'une exposition au Musée des arts décoratifs, Palais du Louvre, Pavillon de Marsan]. Paris: Musée des arts décoratifs, 1931.

Exhibition history

Baltimore, Baltimore Museum of Art, "Early Christian and Byzantine Art" April 24 - June 24, 1947; cat. no. 700, pl. XCVIII.

Seattle, Seattle Art Museum, "Early Christian and Medieval Art" February 1 - February 28, 1949.

Kansas City, William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art "Ecclesiastical Art" December 6, 1954 - January 30, 1955.

Oberlin, OH, The Dudley Peter Allen Memorial Art Museum, "Byzantine Manuscript Illumination" December 2 - December 20, 1957; cat. no. 3, pl. 3.

Berkely, CA, University Art Gallery, University of California, "Pages from Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Mansuscripts" April 24 - June 8, 1963; cat. no. 5, pl. VI.

Athens, "Council of Europe "Byzantine Art, A European Art" April 1 - June 15, 1964; cat. no. 309.

Princeton, University Art Museum "Greek Manuscripts from American Collections: An Exhibition in Honor of Kurt Weitzmann" 1973.

New York, Pierpont-Morgan Library, 12/7/1979--6/16/1980.

Washington D.C., Dumbarton Oaks, "Three Pages from the Phanar Gospels" February 4 - June 1, 1980.

Exposition d'Art Byzantin, Paris, (March 28 - Jul 1931); cat. no. 653. (Phanar Gospel with the Mark and John still in it)

Pages From Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts. Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA (April 24-June 8, 1963).

Byzantine Art: A European Art. Byzantine & Christian Museum, Athens, Greece (organizer) (April 1-June 15, 1964).

Greek and Byzantine Manuscripts. Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ (organizer) (April 13-May 20, 1973).

Gifts from the Byzantine Court. Dumbarton Oaks Collection, Washington, DC (organizer) (February 6-June 1, 1980).

Scriptorium: The Illuminated Book in Medieval Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 5, 1991-February 2, 1992).

The Glory of Byzantium. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (organizer) (March 3-July 6, 1997).

Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. National Museum of Bavaria, Munich, Germany (May 10-September 16, 2007); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 13-June 7, 2009).

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{{cite web|title=Leaf from a Lectionary with St. Matthew|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1942.1512|year=1057–1063|access-date=30 May 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Leaf from a Lectionary with St. Matthew

Leaf from a Lectionary with St. Matthew

Byzantium, Constantinople, 11th century

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