The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 29, 2025

Leaf from a Greek Psalter and New Testament

1084
ink, tempera, and gold on vellum
Sheet: 16.3 x 10.9 cm (6 7/16 x 4 5/16 in.); Framed: 44.5 x 34.3 cm (17 1/2 x 13 1/2 in.); Matted: 40.6 x 30.5 cm (16 x 12 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1950.154
Location: 105 Byzantine

Did You Know?

Imported illuminated manuscripts were important in spreading the Byzantine style throughout Western Europe.

Description

Covering half the page of this leaf is a miniature representing the Apostle Peter. Below are 13 lines of Greek text introduced by the Greek letter pi which is created by figures of Christ and Saint Peter. The leaf comes from a combined psalter (book of sacred songs) and the New Testament. In its design, it shows close parallels with examples that were created in Constantinople workshops.
  • -1950
    Vladimir G. Simkhovitch, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1950-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Oh
  • Lambros, Spyr. P. Catalogue of the Greek Manuscripts on Mount Athos. Cambridge: Univ. Pr, 1900. p. 98, no. 1083
    Capps, Edward Jr. "Byzantine Manuscript Illumination." AllenMemorial Art Museum Bulletin XV (Winter 1958) p. 47
    Dumbarton Oaks. Dumbarton Oaks Papers. Number Nineteen. Number Nineteen. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies, 1965. pp. 155-183 fig. 34
    Weitzmann, Kurt. Studies in Classical and Byzantine Manuscript Illumination. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971. p. 277 & 280
    Lionnais, François le. "La Chronique des Arts." Gazette des Beaux-Arts (October, 1973) p. 22
    Der Nersessian, Sirarpie. Études Byzantines Et Arméniennes. Byzantine and Armenian Studies. Louvain: Impr. orientaliste, 1973. p. 139 (vol.1), p. 30 (vol. 2)
    Evans, Helen C., and William D. Wixom. The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era, A.D. 843-1261. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997. p. 99
    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. p. 86
    Morey, C.R. “The Sources of Medieval Style” Art Bulletin, VII (December 1924) p. 38
    Weitzmann, Kurt. Illustrations in Roll and Codex; A Study of the Origin and Method of Text Illustration. Princeton [N.J.]: Princeton University Press, 1970.
    Weitzmann, Kurt. “The Constantinopolitan Lectionary.” Studies in Art and Literature for Belle da Costa Greene (1954)
    Dalton, O. M. Byzantine Art and Archaeology. Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1911. p. 467-68
    Campbell, Thomas P. Tapestry in the Renaissance: Art and Magnificence. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2002. p. 111, Cat. No. 51
    Rosenwein, Barbara H. Reading the Middle Ages: Sources from Europe, Byzantium, and the Islamic World. 2014. Cover
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 82 archive.org
    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
    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
  • Bladwin Fund Special Advanced Seminar, The Dudley Peter Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH, (December 3-20, 1957).
    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).
    The Glory of Byzantium. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (organizer) (March 3-July 6, 1997).
    The Decorated Letter and the Illuminator's Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 25-December 19, 1993).
    Greek and Byzantine Manuscripts. Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ (organizer) (April 13-May 20, 1973).
    Greek Manuscripts from American Collections: An Exhibition in Honor of Kurt Weitzmann, Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, (1973).
    Liturgical Arts, Chapman Gallery at Milwaukee-Downer College, Milwaukee, WI, (March 1955).
    Exhibition of Byzantine and Medieval Art, The Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC, (September 1954).
  • {{cite web|title=Leaf from a Greek Psalter and New Testament|url=false|author=|year=1084|access-date=29 April 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1950.154