Evangelist Matthew Seated

Description This author portrait once preceded the Gospels of Matthew and Mark in a Gospel Book in Mount Athos at the Monastery of Great Lavra. They are attributable to the leading book illuminator in Constantinople during the second quarter of the twelfth century. His real name is unknown, and he has been conventionally named the Kokkinobaphos Master.

Exhibitions

• Early Christian and Byzantine Art. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore. 1947.
• Splendor in Books. Grolier Club, New York; The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1977-1978.
• Illuminated Manuscripts: Masterpieces in Miniature. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1984-1985.
• Treasures in Heaven: Armenian Manuscript Illumination. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1988.
• The Book and the Author: Portraits of the Evangelists in Eastern and Western Manuscripts. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1990-1991.
• Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261-1557). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. 2004.

Provenance [Folios 1bis and 117bis in Mount Athos, Great Lavra MS A44]; Leon Gruel, Paris [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters