Whether they were created for simple readings or ceremonial liturgical services, illuminated manuscripts were an important element in early Christian religion. The pictures within were often presented to the congregation in order for the members to get a better idea of the figures in the stories. The word "illuminate" itself has a double meaning when referring to these early Christian books. According to Webster's dictionary, illuminate can either mean to enlighten spiritually, or decorate with bright colors, such as gold and silver. The Rossano Gospel fits both definitions perfectly, as it is both meant to help the observer spiritually and is also garishly colored with purple vellum, gold and silver lettering, and brightly-painted illustrations. Few surviving manuscripts are as rare and beautiful as the Rossano book, which presents nearly all of its miniatures in an architecture-like setting. It almost seems as if the paintings were copied from some existing mural or mosaic, and indeed, in some cases it is more than obvious. Some leafs resemble architectural art exactly. Like some other recovered manuscripts of the time, the Rossano Gospel presented its text in liturgical order; that is, the chapters were arranged according to the church year. In this particular case, the readings followed the Lenten seasonal order, telling the story of Jesus' last few weeks on earth, and about his death. This paper will provide a brief description of the Rossano Gosple, followed by in-depth descriptions of two of the drawings within. Also discussed will be the liturgical backgrounds and reasons as to why such a book would have been created, as well as the architectural structure of the drawings. Although it is no longer used in Christian ceremony, this particular gospel is important to dissect in terms of art style and symbolism, and studying the pages will shed light on the early workings of the religion itself.

As stated before, the Rossano Gosple is comprised of Purple-dyed vellum pages. Vellum is made from the skin of a calf, and the thinner the vellum is, the more valuable it is considered. The fact that it is purple refers to a state of royalty or holiness, in the case of this book and most other illuminated manuscripts. The Christians religion considers Jesus as the incarnate Son of God, thus he is worthy of the rare purple dye. The book was assembled in Syria in the 6^th century and is approximately ten inches long by eight inches wide. It isn't incredibly large, and although the illustrations were used as a supplement during church services, only the people nearest to the priest would see the pictures. Inside are 188 leafs. The illustrations are all grouped together at the front of the book, whereas the actual biblical readings are at the end. Underneath the drawings are references to the verses that are illustrated above. Just above the references are four figures holding the texts from which the references came. It is interesting to note that often, the third figure from the left is David, the Psalmist. It was almost traditional to read a Psalm during services, and that tradition has even carried on to modern times.

The style of the illustrations is unique among other illuminated manuscripts of the time. Within the Rossano Gospel is found an interesting innovation; that is, painting the figures and backgrounds as if they are part of a mural or mosaic. The figures are found close to the front of the page as if they are interacting with the viewers indirectly. Around them are archways and other elements of monumental structures such as pillars that create a sort of frame around the image itself. The drawings have a definite structure with a floor, and are not just floating on the page. One drawing that I will cover in detail in another paragraph, the portrait of St. Mark writing, shows him seated on a chair, and the chair is on the floor between two pillars. There is definitely a sense of space within. Loerke's article, "The Monumental Miniature," explains more in-depth about how the drawings are related to architecture. In one figure, the trial of Christ before Pilate is shown, where Pontius Pilate is sitting on a chair surrounded by people. There is a halo object drawn over the whole scene, and the people are arranged in a semi-circle. Below that, separated by a ground line, are Jesus and several other figures that are supposed to be standing in front of Pilate. If someone were to draw a line around the whole image, it would form the shape of an arch. A model of an apse shows how easily the miniature could fit into the shape, and how likely it was that it is a direct copy of some such structure. Another point worth noting is that in many of the images, the eyes of the 'crowd' figures are not quite focused on the subject on the drawing, suggesting that they held another position when they were first drawn. This will be explained in more detail later.

Symbolism was also important within the Rossano Gospel. Most likely, this was for people who couldn't read, and had to rely on what they knew in order to make their own decisions about the nature of a particular Bible story. There are three elements of direct symbolism in the Trial scene according to Art Bulletin Volume 43. The scroll Pilate holds in several scenes passes from his left hand to his right. This validates his appointment as a government official. Also, I deduced that in some way it may have related to the fact that prophets held scrolls. The high table in front of him signifies his competence as a judge in the holy court – a priest. Finally, the imperial throne upon which he is seated represents his precedence over Roman law, thus he also fulfills the role of a king. Who else was called a prophet, priest, and a king? Jesus, in the Bible. The illustrator if the Rossano Gospel is stating that Pontius Pilate is a Godlike entity, and he even has power over Jesus, who is stripped of everything sacred.

Also interesting to note about this particular folio is that it is one in a series of the Trial of Christ. Like other stories in the book, it was created to tell a story from start to finish. Why then, is the last major image in this series that of Pilate before he even casts his judgment on Jesus? To paraphrase from Art Bulletin #43, Folio 9, the miniature right after Christ's trial scene, is reversed, suggesting that it was once removed and then carelessly replaced by thieves who were stealing the artwork. Several folios are questioned as missing, among them the portrait of Matthew at the start of his gospel, and also the scene where Pilate washes his hands. A glance at a later folio will show a scene where the figure of Pilate is raising his hands, almost as if he is motioning someone forward. On the edge of the page is the edge of a servant, tightly clasping a yellow pitcher to his chest, but there is no other half to this picture. It was most likely removed at some point in history, as this is most decidedly the scene where Pilate washed his hands of Jesus' fate.

In order to better understand the repeated composition style of the Rossano Gospel, I studied two pictures more in-depth. First of all, I looked at the illustration of Saint Mark writing the gospel. There are two figures, one is Saint Mark, and is seated in a throne-like chair. The other is his muse, thought to be either the virgin, Mary, Divine wisdom, or even the church itself. Both Mark and the muse are looking down at an unrolled scroll. The muse is the Christian Spirit of Discovery (Dennison, 35) and may also be thought of as a kind of divine inspiration. She has one hand on the scroll on which the saint is writing, and the other hand is over her heart, showing that her inspiration comes right from the heart of God. Also, serving to make the muse somewhat of a holy figure, there is a nimbus around her head. Mark himself is seated, his feet upon a pedestal so they are slightly elevated. He has the scroll strewn across his lap, and is writing busily. He doesn't even have time to roll up the scroll at the other end, because he is so inspired, thus, the scroll hangs down to the floor. The chair is ornately decorated with soft, wavy lines that reach from the top of the chair down to the pedestal. The robes of the two figures are also lined with complexity, the many strokes of the pen showing the folds of cloth. Thus, it is almost surprising that the surrounding architecture, which is composed of two columns and what appears to be an apse or other such archway, is devoid of all but the simplest details. Even the top of the arch with its seashell-like pattern is rigid and sharp, which further proves the theory that the miniatures on the pages of this gospel were derived from existing structures. Since there is so much extra structure in this piece, it doesn't seem as though the figures are standing on one plane, close to the viewer. If it were not for the pedestal raising Mark's feet just slightly, they would all be right along the same line.

The second miniature I wish to discuss is the drawing of Jesus giving the last supper to his disciples, and of Jesus washing Peter's feet. They are both on one page, even though one image does not directly relate to the other. Liturgically, the two illuminations are related, and that is the reason they are next to each other on the same page. Starting with the Last Supper, Jesus is seated, with his twelve disciples gathered around a very vertical-looking table. Christ Himself is robed in deep purple, while the others are all wearing white, and since He is holy, around His head is a bright nimbus. Judas is shown dipping his bread, in accordance with the biblical reference, while the other disciples look at Jesus. There is a bit of a dual perspective occurring in the drawing regarding the table, the disciples, and the chalice on the table. The table appears to be upended, even though the chalice is sitting right on top of what would be the center of the table. It gives the chalice a floating quality. The disciples are gathered around the table and are right on top of each other. None appear to be any further back than the others, and all are drawn exactly the same size. Jesus and the disciple on the right end of the table are reclining, but due to the strange dual perspective, they are twisted in a way that is not proportional. The floor actually seems to be part of the table at first glance, as there is no distinction between where the table ends and the floor begins. The floor, too, is miraculously upended, and upon it are drawings of pheasants or peacocks. If indeed this miniature were to fit into some form of architecture, it would be an archway. The floor forms a shape that could easily fit on a lintel, and the disciples that gather around the semi-circular table form an arch. Perhaps an original of this piece was once situated in such a way. It would also fit inside an apse, because the eyes of the disciples are slightly unfocused as they look at Jesus, suggesting that their forms may have been situated along the structure of an apse's shell-like shape.

The other image on the page, that of Jesus washing the feet of Peter, is similar in nature to the Last Supper. It portrays Jesus on the left side of the drawing, bent over Peter, who is opposite him.. The disciples are gathered around them both, looking at the spectacle in the center. Jesus, with the holy nimbus around His head, has the feet of Peter in his hands, and Peter reaches forward to his Lord. According to the Bible, Peter is asking Jesus to wash the rest of him as well, so he can be pure and holy. Again, though the disciples should be spaced out, they are drawn right on top of each other like a stack of cards. All of them are exactly the same size. The composition of this piece is one that could fit in some sort of apse, but due to the subject matter of it, probably was not. More likely, it was part of an arch-shaped fragment of a wall, or was just created to resemble and arch shape. Doubtless, though, it was created to at least resemble architecture.

It is also important to look at the liturgical order of the gospel, and why it was assembled in such a way. In the sixth century, when this and several other manuscripts were written, there were two ways they were presented. One was in the order they were written in the Bible, and the other was in liturgical order, meaning that the readings within were arranged according to the church calendar. Elaborating on this, the church calendar is comprised of several 'sections' of worship that begin at Advent and end with Pentecost. Since Lent and Advent are two of the most important seasons in the church year, it is characteristic that the Rossano book, being a liturgy about Lent, should be so highly decorated.

The gold and silver lettering within is testament to how important the Rossano Codex was. In modern times, one can simply go to a store and purchase gold or silver leaf, then easily rub it onto nearly any surface. This was not so at the time the Rossano Gospels were written. Pages were gilded because of the spiritual significance of precious metals, and how they reflected God's presense. (Whitley, 39-57) It was a painstaking task, but was made easier by the fact that gold and silver are so malleable, and they were easy to pound into thin sheets (leaf), melt, or crush into a fine powder. In most manuscripts, one of two techniques were used. Either the metals were pounded into leaf and pasted over the letters, or the ink itself contained powdered gold. Both processes required an extreme amount of patience on the part of the scribe, and as holds true today, time was money. The more gold or silver appeared on a page, the more the book was worth, both in terms of time spent creating it and the actual monetary value of the materials. When ink was used, it was important to mix the proper amount of gold powder in with the writing compound, or the letters would have been illegible. The Rossano Codex is fully gilded, and therefore even more valuable.

In conclusion, the Rossano Gospel is one of the most beautiful Codices of the time. Not only is the artwork vivid and stunning, but the pictures have a lot of meaning, as well. Though it was not uncommon to find a codex that was either dyed purple, or was written in gold or silver, or was made of the highest quality vellum, The Rossano Gospel fits all three descriptions. It is truly the rarest of the rare; there are so few manuscripts surviving from early Christian times that it is impossible to say just how much of a find the Rossano book was. Even though books like the Rossano Gospel are no longer made, liturgy is still a very important part of religious practices. Then, as now, Christians revered their God, and illuminated manuscripts were meant to show that reverence in a tangible way.

Works Cited

Whitley, Kathleen. The Gilded Page. New Castle, Oak Knoll Press: 2000.

Loerke, W. "The Trials of Christ in the Rossano Gospel." Art Bulletin. 43. 1961.

Loerke, W. "The Monumental Miniature." The Place of Book Illumination in Byzantine

Art. Princeton, Princeton University Press: 1975.

Weitzmann, Kurt. Studies in Classical and Byzantine Manuscript Illuminations. Chicago,

University of Chicago Press, 1971.

Lecture notes from 4 Dec 2001 were also used.