Artwork Page for Text, folio 52 (recto), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

Details / Information for Text, folio 52 (recto), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

Text, folio 52 (recto), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

c. 1000–1100

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 1942.152.52.a
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.
A vertically oriented cream vellum page features horizontal rows of brown Greek script. In the upper half, large characters sit between faint lines, beginning with a decorative initial on the left. Below, a denser block of smaller, swirling script fills the parchment. A horizontal band of red and gold pigment decorates the top, while faded orange stains mark the edges. The ink varies in weight across the aged, textured surface.

Text, folio 52 (recto), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries

c. 1000–1100

Byzantium, Constantinople

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