Gospels

Description Walters manuscript W.592 is an illuminated and illustrated Arabic manuscript of the Gospels by Matthew (Mattá), Mark (Marqus), Luke (Luqa), and John (Yuhanna) and was copied in Egypt by Ilyas Basim Khuri Bazzi Rahib, who was most likely a Coptic monk, in Anno Mundi 7192/AD 1684. The text is written in Naskh in black ink with rubrics in red. The decoration is comprised of illuminated headpieces, numerous floral paintings, and approximately fifty illustrations (fols. 3a, 8a, 10a, 18a, 20b, 23a, 24a, 25a, 31b, 39a, 41a, 43a, 47a, 48b, 58a, 74a, 81b, 85b, 86b, 88b, 89b, 131b, 134b, 137b, 138b, 143b, 151a, 157a, 161a, 166a, 169a, 188b, 190b, 192b, 196a, 201a, 204b, 207a, 208b, 212a, 215a, 219a, 223b, 231a, 234a, 240b, 244a, 245a, 254b, and 260a ). The brown goatskin binding with blind-tooled central oval medallion, pendants, and cornerpieces is contemporary with the manuscript.

Exhibitions

• The Cross and the Crescent: Books from the Ottoman Age. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2003.

Provenance Leon Gruel, Paris [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [Henry Walters Ex Libris book plate on the inside of the upper board]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters