London. British Library, Stowe MS 3

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Source
The British Library, Polonsky Pre-1200 Project
Library
London. British Library
Shelfmark
  • British Library, Stowe MS 3
Biblissima authority file
Language
  • Latin
  • Ancient Greek
Title
  • The Four Gospels; a Lectionary
Description
  • This manuscript contains the Four Gospels with prologues and tables of contents, followed by a lectionary in which readings from the Gospels are divided over the liturgical year. The manuscript has, on stylistic grounds, been identified as a product of the Benedictine abbey of St Remaclus in Stavelot. The manuscript was produced in the 10th century, possibly during the abbacy of Ravanger II (r. 980-1007). It has been illuminated in a Mosan style found in a group of manuscripts produced at Stavelot around the same time. Another British Library manuscript that belongs to this group is Add MS 18043 (a Psalter). Like many manuscripts from Stavelot, this manuscript contains unfinished miniatures (and initials and display capitals) that have only been drawn in ink (Nordenfalk, Codex Caesareus Upsaliensis (1971), pp. 141-42). Contents:ff. 3r-8v: Eusebian Canons (unfinished, featuring only the arches but lacking contents). ff. 9r-10r: St Jerome, Prologue to the Four Gospels. ff. 10r-11v: St Jerome, Epistola Hieronimi presbiteri ad Damasum papam urbis Rome (Letter from priest Jerome to Pope Damasus of the City of Rome). ff. 11v-12r: St Jerome, Prologue to the Gospel of John. ff. 12r-14r: A table of contents for the Gospel of Matthew. ff. 14r-69v: The Gospel of Matthew. ff. 69v-70r: St Jerome, Prologue to the Gospel of Mark. ff. 70r-72r: A table of contents for the Gospel of Mark. ff. 72v-105v: The Gospel of Mark. ff. 105v-106v: St Jerome, Prologue to the Gospel of Luke. ff. 106v-111v: A table of contents for the Gospel of Luke.ff. 111v-169v: The Gospel of Luke. ff. 169v-170r: St Jerome, Prologue to the Gospel of John. ff. 170r-171v: A table of contents for the Gospel of John.ff. 172r-215v: The Gospel of John. ff. 216r-224v: A lectionary, beginning ‘In nomine domini · Incipit capitulare evvangeliorum de anni circulo’.The manuscript contains a later addition: f. 1r: A description of the manuscript (‘Note’) in French, added in the 19th century (?). [ff. 2r, 14v, 15v, 16r, 172v, [215a] recto, [215a] verso are empty].Decoration:1 full-page miniature with colours: Matthew writing at a desk (f. 2v). 1 full-page unfinished 'LI'(ber) monogram in green and gold on purple parchment with birds for the beginning of Matthew (f. 15r). Arches for canon tables, with birds, dragons, or hybrids in colours, and foliate or inhabited capitals, left unfilled (ff. 3r-8v). 1 large unfinished sketch in pencil for a miniature of Mark writing accompanied by his symbol, and the beginning of his Gospel (f. 72v). 3 sketches in pencil and purple ink for large initials with interlace, foliate decoration, and zoomorphic figures at the beginning of Luke and of John (ff. 111v, 112r, 172r). Large and small simple initials in red or brown. Running headings in red.
Place
Rights
  • Public domain in most countries other than the UK
License
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