Leaf from a Greek Psalter and New Testament (1084): Art, History and Details

Leaf from a Greek Psalter and New Testament (1084) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Covering half the page of this leaf is a miniature representing the Apostle Peter. Below are 13 lines of Greek text introduced by the Greek letter pi which is created by figures of Christ and Saint Peter. The leaf comes from a combined psalter (book of sacred songs) and the New Testament. In its design, it shows close parallels with examples that were created in Constantinople workshops.

Object facts

• Title: Leaf from a Greek Psalter and New Testament
• Date: 1084
• Culture: Byzantium, Constantinople
• Type: Manuscript
• Technique: ink, tempera, and gold on vellum
• Dimensions: Sheet: 16.3 x 10.9 cm (6 7/16 x 4 5/16 in.); Framed: 44.5 x 34.3 cm (17 1/2 x 13 1/2 in.); Matted: 40.6 x 30.5 cm (16 x 12 in.)
• Collection: MED - Byzantine
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1950.154

A detail from the museum

Imported illuminated manuscripts were important in spreading the Byzantine style throughout Western Europe.

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lambros, Spyr. P. Catalogue of the Greek Manuscripts on Mount Athos. Cambridge: Univ. Pr, 1900.
• Capps, Edward Jr. "Byzantine Manuscript Illumination." AllenMemorial Art Museum Bulletin XV (Winter 1958)
• Dumbarton Oaks. Dumbarton Oaks Papers. Number Nineteen. Number Nineteen. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies, 1965.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.