Text |
BIBLE: NEW TESTAMENT, WITHOUT REVELATION, WITH CANON TABLES AND LETTER OF EUSEBIUS, TABLE FOR SYNAXARION, MENOLOGION AND GOSPEL LECTIONS FOR FIXED AND MOVABLE FEAST DAYS |
Description |
MS in Greek on vellum, Lavra Monastery, Mount Athos, Greece, 13th c., 340 (-8?) ff., 21x14 cm, single column, (16x10 cm), 33 lines in Greek minuscule, titles in red capitals, initials in red, some with ornamental extensions, 4 6-lines embellished initials with foliate and acanthus-like ornaments, columns with semi circular pinkish-brown arches around canon tables, 3 half-page square headpieces with floral, palm-shaped or geometrical motifs enclosed in round medallions. |
Binding |
Greece, late 14th c., brown goatskin over wooden boards, chain stitches on 4 sewing stations, stamped geometrical pattern of 4 rectangles inscribed in a triple fillet frame, spine raised alla grecca, traces of clasps and of 4 metal bosses, one in each corner. |
Context |
The present MS bears a striking resemblance to certain books copied and decorated by the late Byzantine scribe and illuminator Theodore Hagiopetrites, who might have worked in Thessaloniki. The exceptional binding can be related to a select group of bindings produced in Constantinople from the middle to the end of the 14th c., it is similar to Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale de France, MS Grec. 2461, dated to the last third of 14th c., related to the Imperial court. |