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W.840, Single leaf with Saint Luke

Abstract

This single leaf originally belonged to a Gospel book, and was created in the Lake Tana region of Ethiopia. The strong abstraction of the figure and his surroundings are characteristic of Ethiopian illumination of the late fourteenth century. The image, which is on the verso of the page, depicts the Evangelist St. Luke and would likely have originally faced the opening of his Gospel. Here Luke is presented as an Ethiopian scribe and is surrounded by the tools of his trade, including ink horns, reed pens, and a scraping knife. His upward gaze suggests the divine inspiration he received while writing his Gospel, the first words of which are inscribed on the page he holds. Despite being badly abraded, the pigments still retain much of their original vibrancy.

Manuscript Description (in a new window) | TEI (XML format) | View at art.thewalters.org

Persistent URLs (PURLs)

The following URLs are assured to route to the named resources. For more information see the ReadMe file.

  • http://purl.thewalters.org/art/W.840/data
  • http://purl.thewalters.org/art/W.840/browse
  • http://purl.thewalters.org/art/W.840/TEI
  • http://purl.thewalters.org/art/W.840/description
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    1. fol. W.840v

      W.840, fol. W.840v
    2. fol. W.840r

      W.840, fol. W.840r

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