Walters Ms. W.531, Trebizond Gospels Gospel Book Principal cataloger Parpulov, Georgi R. Editor Herbert, Lynley Editor Noel, William Copy editor Joyal, Stephanie Contributor Bockrath, Diane Contributor Emery, Doug Contributor Noel, William Contributor Tabritha, Ariel Contributor Toth, Michael B. Conservator Owen, Linda Conservator Quandt, Abigail The Walters Art Museum

Licensed for use under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Access Rights, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcode. It is requested that copies of any published articles based on the information in this data set be sent to the curator of manuscripts, The Walters Art Museum, 600 North Charles Street, Baltimore MD 21201.

 This Gospel Book was probably made in Constantinople in the mid twelfth century and is remarkable for the fine execution and monumental quality of its full-page miniatures. The opening for the Gospel of Matthew is missing, but the other three Gospels are prefaced with a pair of miniatures each: the respective Evangelist on the left and a scene from the Gospel story on the right. The combination of St. John with the Raising of Lazarus is one found only in this manuscript. The text was copied by two scribes with distinctly different hands. One of them must have painted the ornament on fol. 175r, which contains curious animal figures. Baltimore The Walters Art Museum W.531 The primary language in this manuscript is Greek, Ancient (to 1453). 1r - 232v Gospel Book Fols. 1r-58v: Gospel of Matthew, beginning lost, starts with Matthew 5:12; fol. 59r: chapters list for the Gospel of Mark; fols. 61r-101r: Gospel of Mark; fol. 101v: chapters list for the Gospel of Luke; fols. 103r-172v, 176r-179v: Gospel of Luke; fol. 175r: chapters list for the Gospel of John; fols. 175r-v, 180r-232v: Gospel of John, end lost, ends with John 21:17

Medium quality, with some defects

 Foliation: ii+233+ii32.0 23.0 22.0 14.0 Three foliations: Pencil foliation from 1972 (followed here) in upper right corners of rectos, including 63bis; pencil foliation from 1935 in upper right corners of rectos, in parentheses; early twentieth-century pencil foliation in lower right corners of rectos

1(10,-10), 2-9(8), 10(10,-3,7), 11-12(8), 13(6), 14-15(8), 16(4), 17(8), 18(10,-1,9), 19-22(8), 23(10,-8), 24(8,-1), 25-29(8), 30(6) Possibly original signatures in lower margin of first and last leaf, in magenta, occasionally visible (fols. 218v-219r); later signatures in brown ink in lower margins of first and last leaf of each quire, occasionally visible; later illegible signatures in lower margins, occasionally visible None Leaves rearranged in 1972, wrapped in modern stubs; two leaves foliated as 63; quire 23 has bifolium 173-174 inserted, stitched to fols. 176v-177r, fol. 175 is a singleton; quires begin on fols. 1(1), 10(2), 18(3), 26(4), 34(5), 42(6), 50(7), 58(8), 65(9), 73(10), 81(11), 89(12), 97(13), 103(14), 111(15), 119(16), 123(17), 131(18), 139(19), 147(20), 155(21), 163(22), 171(23), 180(24), 187(25), 195(26), 203(27), 211(28), 219(29), 227(30)

 Hardpoint ruling Copied by two hands: Hand A (fols. 1-101, 119, 122, 131, 171-172, 175-179, 211, 218), florid, widely-spaced minuscule in dark brown ink; Hand B (fols. 103-118, 120-121, 123-130, 132-170, 180-210, 212-217, 219-232), "epsylon"-style in black ink Six full-page miniatures (fols. 59v, 60r, 102v, 103r, 173v, 174r); two headpieces (fols. 61r, 175r); one illuminated initial (175r) Baptism of Christ Full-page miniature

Inscribed: "The Baptism."

The Holy Spirit is shown descending over Christ in the form of a dove. Two angels wait to receive him when he comes out of the water. The vaguely outlined figure on the lower left is a personification of the river Jordan.

 The Evangelist Mark Full-page miniature

Inscribed: "Saint Mark."

The Evangelist holds an open book with the text of the beginning of his Gospel. In front of him is a writing desk, probably similar to the ones used by Byzantine scribes.

 The Annunciation Full-page miniature

Inscribed: "The Annunciation."

Just as in the image of the Baptism of Christ (fol. 59v), the Holy Spirit is shown here as a dove flying from above toward the Virgin (this detail of the miniature is very abraded, but it can be vaguely seen between the letters of the labeling inscription). Mary is in the process of spinning purple thread for the curtain of the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Jerusalem (Protoevangelium of James 10:2-11:1).

 The Evangelist Luke Half-page miniature

Inscribed: "The Holy Gospel According to Luke."

 The Raising of Lazarus Full-page miniature

Inscribed: "The Raising of Lazarus."

The Raising of Lazarus is not found as a frontispiece to a Gospel in any other manuscript. It is not clear why this particular scene was singled out for illustration. Notice how small Lazarus' sisters Martha and Mary are in comparison to Jesus. The man to the left of Lazarus is holding his nose, because the dead body has begun decomposing (John 11:17).

 The Evangelist John Full-page miniature

Inscribed: "Saint John the Theologian."

Unlike the other Evangelists, St. John is usually shown in Byzantine art as an elderly man. Notice also the oil lamp hanging above his writing desk.

 Title page of the Gospel of John Table of contents for the Gospel of John, John 1:1-5 Ornamented headpiece, inhabited initial letter "E"

Inscribed: "Gospel According to John."

The initial letter "E" is decorated with two falcons, a partridge, and a hare. Falcons were specially trained to chase game and hunting was a favorite pastime of Byzantine noblemen (the sort of people who would commission a luxury manuscript like this one).

Light brown leather over squared wooden boards with blind and gold tooling; rebacked in 1972

 Mid 12th century CE Constantinople (Istanbul) Owned by Pellikidis, Trabzon, seen there by M. Alpatov in the autumn of 1924 Henry Walters, acquired before 1931, probably from Léon Gruel Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters' bequest Relevant Works Clark, Kenneth. A Descriptive Catalogue of Greek New Testament Manuscripts in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1937, pp. 361-362. Vikan, Gary, ed. Illuminated Greek Manuscripts from American Collections: An Exhibition in Honor of Kurt Weitzmann. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1973, pp. 158-161, cat. no. 44. Evans, Helen and William Wixom, eds. The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era, A.D. 843-1261. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997, p. 97, cat. no. 51. Parpulov, Georgi. “A Catalogue of Greek Manuscripts at the Walters Art Museum.” Journal of the Walters Art Museum 62 (2004): 71-189. Art Medicine Museum Poetry Script Muhammad, the Prophet Kashmiri Horses Walters Art Museum Document Astrology Devotion History Legal Literature -- Poetry Literature -- Prose Liturgy Philosophy Science Science -- Medicine Scripture Sufism Theology Mineralogy Logic Geography Geomancy Cosmology Cartography Fortune-telling Koran Qur`an Firman Palimpsest Prayer Bible Gospels Psalter Missal Lectionary Book of Hours Antiphonary Homilary Processional Horologion Breviary Hymnal Chronicle Maghreb Sub-Saharan (West) Africa Turkey Afghanistan Central Asia Egypt England India Iran Iraq Pakistan Germany France Austria Netherlands Ethiopia Armenia Flanders Greece Mamluk Mughal Ottoman Ottonian Armenian Byzantine Abbasid Qajar Rajput Christian Arabic Austrian Dutch Egyptian Fatimid German Indian Islamic Persian Safavid Timurid Turkish Umayyad English French Flemish Ethiopian Carolingian Calligraphy Colophon Headpiece Illumination Illustration Medallion Miniature Ornament Painting Early Abbasid script Ragini Romanesque Gothic Watermark Grotesques Historiated initial Inhabited initial White-vine lettering Textura Batarda Humanistic Uncial Accordion book Album Book Codex Manuscript Heraldry Saint's Life Drawing Grisaille Binding New Abbasid style Musical notation Russia Romania Charter Russian Genealogy Mass book Prayer book Gospel Lectionary Psalter-Hours Treatise Grammar Gloss Pontifical Private devotional text Gradual Protective scroll Scroll 10th century 11th century 12th century 13th century 14th century 15th century 16th century 17th century 18th century 19th century 20th century 8th century 9th century Block book Caroline minuscule Central Arab lands (Near East) Chart English secretary hand Kufic Gothic book hand Original binding Treasure binding Gospel Book Spanish Spain Italian Italy Coptic Scrapbook American United States Maryland Historical Society Friendship book Friendship Biography Liturgical Devotional Scriptural Theological Legal Historical Scientific Scientific -- Medical Literary -- Prose Literary -- Poetry Philosophical Astrological Sufi English Christian Codex Walters Art Museum Byzantine Binding Book Illumination Manuscript Greece 12th century Scripture Chart Gospel Book