ID: 700008096 Page link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/cona/700008096	Record Type: Movable Work
Images: 1

Gospel Book (illuminated manuscript; Unknown Ethiopian (Ethiopian Illuminator); around 1504-1505; Cover, 19th ...; J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles, Los A...; 2008.15; Ms. 102)

Note: 5 full-page miniatures, 8 canon tables, and 5 ornamental headpieces or harägs. This Gospel book comes from the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia and is illuminated in the distinctive and profoundly expressive style that characterizes Ethiopian painting. Ethiopia was one of the earliest centers of Christianity. Over the course of the Middle Ages, this culture produced icons, processional crosses, and illuminated manuscripts that formed an integral part of its religious services. The manuscript is written in Ge'ez, the language of early Christian Ethiopia, which was by the10th and 11th centuries a primarily literary and liturgical language.Dating between 1504 and 1505, this manuscript begins with an intricately decorated headpiece, called a haräg (from the Ge'ez word for tendril). It continues with a striking image of the Virgin and Child and eight canon table pages. Four evangelist portraits are remarkable for their monumentality and arresting palette of olive, orange, yellow, and white. The uniformly bright hues and rhythmic distribution of circular motifs and interlace create a vibrant, unified design throughout the manuscript. This striking manuscript is illuminated in the so-called Gunda Gundé style. It takes its name from the location of the Stephanite monastery of Dabra Garzen, which possesses a number of examples of this type. The large, exaggeratedly rounded backs of the evangelists, their almond-shaped eyes and the dotted motif employed in their clothing are hallmarks of the Gunda Gundé style, which is characterized by an extreme stylization of the figures and geometric regularity.

Titles:

Gospel Book (preferred,C,U,English-P,U,U)

Ms. 102 (C,U,MD,English,U,U)

Catalog Level: volume

Work Types:

illuminated manuscript [300265483] (preferred)

..... (Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Information Forms (hierarchy name), information forms (objects), document genres, <documents by conditions of production>, manuscripts (documents))

evangeliary [300026466]

..... (Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Information Forms (hierarchy name), information forms (objects), document genres, <documents by function>, religious texts, liturgical texts, lectionaries)

book [300028051]

..... (Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Information Forms (hierarchy name), information forms (objects), information artifacts, <information artifacts by physical form>)

Classifications:

manuscripts (preferred)

Creation Date: around 1504-1505; Cover, 19th century ?

Creator Display:

Unknown Ethiopian (Ethiopian Illuminator) [preferred,JPGM]

unknown Ethiopian (Ethiopian cultural designation) Qualifier: undetermined Extent: undetermined [500125232]

Locations:

Current: J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles, Los Angeles county, California, United States) [500329598] J. Paul Getty Museum, J. Paul Getty Trust, Corporate Bodies (Corp. Body)

Repository Numbers: 2008.15; Ms. 102

Other: Creation: Ityop'iya [7000489] Africa (continent), World (facet) (Geographic)

Display Materials: Tempera on parchment

	tempera [300015062]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by function>, coating (material), <coating by form>, paint (coating), <paint by composition or origin>, water-base paint)

	parchment (animal material) [300011851]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by origin>, biological material, animal material, processed animal material)

Dimensions: Leaf: 34.5 x 26.5 cm (13 9/16 x 10 7/16 in.). Closed: 35 x 27 cm (13 3/4 x 10 5/8 in.)

Cultures:

Ethiopian (preferred)

Style/Period/Group/Movement:

	Gunda Gundé [300404025] (preferred,N/A)
	.....(Styles and Periods Facet, Styles and Periods (hierarchy name), <styles| periods| and cultures by region>, African (general| continental cultures), <African by cultural or regional designation>, Eastern African, Ethiopian ethnic styles)

General Subject:

religion and mythology (preferred)

Specific Subjects:

	Gospels, the [901001625]
	.....((Bible, New Testament, Bible, Literary works: Philosophy, Religion, Named written and performed works, Literature and Performing Arts)) (ICON)

	Geez (language) [300388341]
	.....(Associated Concepts Facet, Associated Concepts (hierarchy name), language-related concepts, <languages and writing systems>, <languages and writing systems by specific type>, <temporary alphabetical list: languages and writing systems>) (AAT)

Inscriptions: Colophon, said to be original, inserted after the end of the Gospel of Mark [f. 142]: "This book was finished on the 29th day after the new moon, on the 14th day, in the days of the king Na'od, in the days of our bishop Abba Marqos, in the Year of Mercy 157. And as for me, the scribe, may [God] write his name on a pillar of gold. For ever and ever, Amen and Amen." The date according to the Ethiopian calendar belonged to late 1504 or early 1505 on our calendar. Endnote in Amharic, Late 19th century hand, giving an account of the settlement in a murder case [fols. 268v-269].

List/Hierarchical Position:

..... Movable Works

.......... Movable Works by class: drawings, paintings, prints, other two-dimensional media

Sources and Contributors:
Gospel Book	........ [JPGM]
	........ J. Paul Getty Museum database for collections (2000-)
Ms. 102	........ [JPGM,VP]
	........ J. Paul Getty Museum database for collections (2000-)

Subject: ....... [JPGM,VP]

Note:
English	..... [JPGM,VP]
	..... J. Paul Getty Museum database for collections (2000-)