Codex Aureus of Stockholm
The Codex Aureus of Stockholm (also Codex Aureus of Canterbury ) is an illustrated manuscript from the middle of the 8th century from England .
description
The manuscript contains the text of the four Gospels of the New Testament to 193 preserved parchment sheets of vellum in the format 393 mm x 314 mm. Some leaves are purple in color . These are inscribed with silver , gold and white pigments, the other leaves with black and red pigments. The different colors of the font partly form geometric shapes. Full-page colored miniatures of the evangelists Matthew and John have been preserved, as well as six illuminated canon tables and seven decorated initials . The miniatures are based on Italian models, but the font is designed in the insular style . Some initials are decorated with gold leaf , the oldest surviving from England.
The manuscript probably originated in Canterbury ( St. Augustine's Abbey ?) Or at least in the Kingdom of Mercia ( Kent ). In the late 9th century the Earldorman Ælfred von Survey bought the manuscript from Vikings , this is reported in an Old English note in the margin of the text. In the 16th century she was in Spain. Today it is kept in the Royal Library in Stockholm (call number MS A-135).
Web links
- Stockholm Codex Aureus (facsimile)