Moldovian Illustrated Document

I recently attended a fascinating talk by Dr Georgi Parlupov about the first (ever) illustrated book produced in Moldovia. Given the long history of insular illuminated works, it is notable that the book was produced is 1429; and equally remarkable that it is is now held by the Bodleian library in Oxford. Moldovia, one of the more obscure Eastern European countries, covered roughly territory now occupied by north east Rumania and present day Moldova, and had a complex linguistic history encompassing both latin and slavic tongues.

The gospel book was glossed, probably around the end of the 18th century, in Greek, and has a large colophon at the end of each gospel, from which the name of the scribe and the monastery at which he worked can be derived. Each gosepl starts with an illumination, tipped in, but painted on parchment of the same superb quality as the rest of the book. The frames of these illuminations may have been marked out by the same tool as used for marking the lines on the pages, as they appear almost embossed.

Sadly the book was re-bound in the nineteenth century, probably quite shortly after its arrival in Oxford.

click here to see some pictures of Moldovan monastries