Gospel Book

Description This Gospel Book is representative of a large group of illuminated manuscripts produced during the second half of the twelfth century and possibly in the first decades after the Crusader conquest of Constantinople (1204). Its one surviving miniature was painted over in the twentieth century but retains some of its original character. Each Gospel opens with an exuberantly ornamented headpiece.

Exhibitions

• Early Christian and Byzantine Art. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore. 1947.
• Byzantine Gold: Illumination in Greek Manuscripts. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1986.
• Medieval Writing and Calligraphy. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1993-1994.
• Eureka! The Archimedes Palimpsest. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore; The Field Museum, Chicago. 1999-2000.
• Illuminating the Word: Gospel Books in the Middle Ages. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2004.
• From Rye to Raphael: The Walters Story. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2014-2016.

Provenance Henry Walters, Baltimore, MD, before 1931 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters