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Gospels of Luke and John (Dumbarton Oaks MS 4)


Middle Byzantine
late 12th century - early 13th century
24 x 17 x 9.5 cm (9 7/16 x 6 11/16 x 3 3/4 in.)
tempera, gold leaf and ink on vellum
BZ.1974.1

On view


Permalink: http://museum.doaks.org/objects-1/info/27393

Additional Images
Click an image to view a larger version
Additional Image Detail, St. John
Detail, St. John
Additional Image Folio 151r, John, headpiece
Folio 151r, John, headpiece
Additional Image Folio 5r, Luke, headpiece
Folio 5r, Luke, headpiece
Additional Image Full-page miniature: Luke (f. 4v)
Full-page miniature: Luke (f. 4v)


Description
The revered phenomenon of Luke’s writing of the third Gospel is here expressed in terms of the physical act of writing. He works on a manuscript in his lap, copying from a version of his gospel on the bookstand in front of him, open to the beginning, In as much as many have undertaken […to compile an account…] (Luke 1:1). On the table we see a series of writing tools; a dual inkwell containing black and red ink (red for emphasis), an unidentified object, perhaps a protective white pouch with red ribbons for protecting reeds and other instruments, a pair of calipers for exact measurements, and a wheel for ruling lines. There is even a glass bottle containing a reserve supply of ink hanging from the right side of the tabletop, partially obscured by the flaking of paint. The appearance of such tools is no anachronism, as they had been in use equally in ancient times as in the middle ages when this manuscript was written and painted, and even continued in use into the nineteenth century.
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are usually painted in this fashion, seated in profile at a desk, a type that seems to have derived from statues of ancient philosophers and poets in flowing garments (see BZ.1979.31.1). The elongated pedimented building behind Luke is typical of the sort of improbable townscapes that illustrators employed as backdrops. They resemble the fictive architecture seen also in Roman wall paintings, Roman theatres, and early Christian and Byzantine murals and ivory reliefs (see BZ.1951.30).

The Dumbarton Oaks Gospel book—really about half of a Gospel book, containing only Luke and John—has been dated by some scholars to the latter twelfth century based on the style of the paintings. The dynamic drapery folds and compelling facial expression compare well with certain monumental cycles of paintings of the twelfth century, such as the late twelfth-century frescoes of the church at Nerezi. On the other hand, the text is written in an archaizing script of a kind that was current in the latter half of the thirteenth century. Whether we set greater store by pictorial or paleographic evidence, we can tell that the miniatures were later additions. The illustrator, contrary to common practice, painted Luke’s author portrait on a ruled folio overleaf from the tail end of the table of contents. The portrait of John, moreover, is painted on a separate sheet which was inserted into the manuscript. Such technical evidence supports the later dating, although it is impossible to say how much time might have elapsed between writing the book and adding the miniatures.

- S. Zwirn

To page through a digital facsimile of this manuscript, visit: https://www.doaks.org/resources/manuscripts-in-the-byzantine-collection/gospels-of-luke-and-john
High resolution files of the manuscript may be viewed here: https://nrs.lib.harvard.edu/urn-3:doak.mus:10487172


Bibliography
G. F. Warner and C. W. D. Perrins, Descriptive Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts in the Library of C. W. Dyson Perrins (Oxford, 1920), 309, no. 131, pl. 29.

Sotheby & Co. and C. W. D. Perrins, The Dyson Perrins Collection: Which will be Sold by Auction by Messrs. Sotheby & Co. (London, 1958), pl. 5, lot 56.

Bernard Quaritch Ltd., A Catalogue of Manuscripts, Reproductions of Manuscripts and Books on Palaeography, Bernard Quaritch Catalogues 859 (London, 1965), 3, no. 9.

K. Hoffmann and F. Deuchler, The Year 1200, exhibition catalogue, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, February 12-May 10, 1970, The Cloisters studies in medieval art, 1-2(New York, 1970), no. 292.

Illuminated Greek Manuscripts from American Collections: an Exhibition in Honor of Kurt Weitzmann, ed. G. Vikan, exhibition catalogue, Art Museum Princeton University, April 14-May 20, 1973, (Princeton, 1973), no. 42, fig. 73.

N. Kavrus-Hoffmann, "Greek Manuscripts at Dumbarton Oaks: Codicological and Paleographic Description and Analysis," Dumbarton Oaks Papers 50 (1996): 289-312, esp. 302-306, pl. 5, 6.

A. Saminsky, "The Miniatures and Origin of the Berta Gospels," in Vakhtang Beridze International Symposium of Georgian Culture: Georgian Art in the Context of European and Asian Cultures 21 - 29 June 2008 (Tblisi, 2009), 241-47, esp. 241-243, fig. 1.


Exhibition History
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, "The Year 1200," Feb. 12 - May 10, 1970.

Princeton, Princeton University Art Museum, "Illuminated Greek Manuscripts from American Collections: an Exhibition in Honor of Kurt Weitzmann," Apr. 14-May 20, 1973.

Washington D.C., Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Museum, "Four Byzantine Manuscripts", April 25, 2013 - September 29, 2013.

Washington, DC. Dumbarton Oaks, 75 Years/75 Objects: Celebrating 75 Years of the Dumbarton Oaks Museum, September 8, 2015 - May 22, 2016.



Acquisition History
Gortyna, Crete 1521 (see fol. 254v).

Collection of Lord Amherst, Hackney, England.

Purchased from Lord Amherst through Sotheby's, London, by C.W. Dyson Perrins, Dec. 3, 1908.

Collection of C. W. Dyson Perrins, 1908 - 1959.

Purchased from C. W. Dyson Perrins through Sotheby's, London, by H.P. Kraus, Dec. 1, 1959.

Collection of H. P. Kraus, New York; 1959-1974.

B. Quaritch, Ltd., Sale Catalogue, London, 1965.

Purchased from H.P. Kraus, New York, by Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, D.C., 1974.

Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Byzantine Collection, Washington, D.C.