Byzantium, Constantinople / c. 1000–1100
Text, folio 251 (recto), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Text, folio 251 (recto), from a Gospel Book with Commentaries as bound volume (Byzantium, Constantinople · c. 1000–1100).
Gospel books were carried in procession through Byzantine churches.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this bound volume as ink, tempera, and gold on vellum; leather binding.
The museum's collection notes: 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.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtText, folio 251 (recto), from a Gospel Book with CommentariesOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.