Gospel Book

Manuscript containing a Byzantine Gospel book written in Greek on parchment in the late 11th or early 12th century in modern Turkey or Greece. This deluxe gospel book was produced at the pinnacle of the Byzantine period and demonstrates a high degree of artistic and scribal mastery. Unusually, it retains a late-medieval binding with purple cloth covers, an indicator of its luxury status. Portraits of the evangelists and decorative headings are the focus of illustration and ornament in Byzantine gospel manuscripts. Here, St. Mark pauses from his writing to dip his pen in ink, with additional writing instruments and scrolls laid out on the desk and lectern before him. The gold background, symbolically placing him in a heavenly sphere, suggests divine inspiration. In addition to such rich illumination, the manuscript preserves almost every paratext (interpretation and commentary) found in gospel manuscripts up to this period in a highly developed form. As a result, this gospel book is the epitome of artistic and intellectual production at the cusp of the twelfth century.