The Jaharis Lectionary

The Jaharis Lectionary

Lectionary

This 12th-century Byzantine illuminated lectionary contains readings from all four Gospels (John, Matthew, Luke, and Mark) arranged in the order in which they would be read in church services throughout the liturgical year. This lectionary is divided up into two sections according to two Orthodox calendars: fixed feast days and movable feast days. Like many Byzantine lectionaries, this is a large formatted book with large text for easier reading. Nonfigural geometric and vegetal decorations in gold, blue, and green ink are consistently painted throughout the codex, as well as the inclusion of Evangelist portraits of the four gospels in various sections. As illuminated manuscripts were an elite object in the Byzantine world, the quality of this work and the particular order of the lections, leads many to believe it was made for the great Church of Constantinople, Hagia Sophia.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

1100 CE

Isabel Coopersmith

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/477499

Gold and ink on parchment, leather binding; 36.8 x 29.6 x 12.4 cm

Greek

Lectionary

2007.286