Walters Ms. W.525, New Testament

W.525

New Testament

Authority name: Eusebius, of Caesarea, Bishop of Caesarea, ca. 260-ca. 340

This small, densely written volume of the New Testament was evidently made for personal reading. It represents high-level manuscript production in the first decades of the late Byzantine period. ca. 1300. By 1628, it is known to have been in the Chilandari Monastery, or one of its dependencies, on Mount Athos.

Ca. 1300 CE

Probably Constantinople (modern Istanbul)

Book

Scriptural

The primary language in this manuscript is Greek, Ancient (to 1453).

Parchment

Medium-weight, cream-colored parchment

Foliation: iii+352+ii

Foliated in pencil at top right corner

Formula: 1(8), 2(2,-2), 3-7(8), 8(6), 9(2,-2), 10-12(8), 13(6), 14(2,-2), 15-19(8), 20(10), 21(2,-2), 22-24(8), 25(10,-10), 26-27(8), 28(4), 29-46(8), 47(6), 48(8) 49(2,-2), 50(2,-2), 51(2,-2)

Catchwords: None

Signatures: In Greek numerals, at the start of each quire, at the lower outside corner; in brown ink (in roughly the first half) and vermilion (in roughly the second)

Comments: All miniatures, as well as fols. 163, 350, 351, and 352 are singletons; quires begin on fols. 1(1), 9(2), 10(3), 18(4), 26(5), 34(6), 42(7), 50(8), 56(9), 57(10), 65(11), 73(12), 81(13), 87(14), 88(15), 96(16), 104(17), 112(18), 120(19), 128(20), 138(21), 139(22), 147(23), 155(24), 163(25), 172(26), 180(27), 188(28), 192(29), 200(30), 208(31), 216(32), 224(33), 232(34), 240(35), 248(36), 256(37), 264(38), 272(39), 280(40), 288(41), 296(42), 304(43), 312(44), 320(45), 328(46), 336(47), 342(48), 350(49), 351(50), 352(51)

11.5 cm wide by 16.5 cm high

6.2 cm wide by 10.5 cm high

1. Columns: 1
2. Ruled lines: 36

1. Title: New Testament
2. Contents: Fols. 1v–2r: Letter of Eusebius to Carpianus; fols. 3r–7v: Canon tables; fols. 8r–v: Chapters list for the Gospel of Matthew; fols. 10r–54v: Gospel of Matthew; fols. 55r–v: Chapters list for the Gospel of Mark; fols. 57r–85r: Gospel of Mark; fols. 85v–86v: Chapters list for the Gospel of Luke; fols. 88r–137r: Gospel of Luke; fol. 137r: Chapters list for the Gospel of John; fols. 139r–171v: Gospel of John; fols. 172r–181r: List of Gospel readings for the movable feasts; fols. 181v–191r: List of Gospel readings for the immovable feasts; fols. 192r–236v: Acts of the Apostles; fols. 236v-253r: Catholic Epistles; fols. 236v–240r: James; fols. 240r–244r: I Peter; fols. 244r–246v: II Peter; fols. 246v–251r: I John; fols. 251r–v: II John; fols. 251v–252r: III John; fols. 252r–253r: Jude; fols. 253r-340r: Pauline Epistles; fols. 253r–268v: Romans; fols. 268v–283v: I Corinthians; fols. 284r–294r: II Corinthians; fols. 294v–299v: Galatians; fols. 299v–305r: Ephesians; fols. 305r–308v: Philippians; fols. 309r–312v: Colossians; fols. 312v–316r: I Thessalonians; fols. 316r–317v: II Thessalonians; fols. 318r–322r: I Timothy; fols. 322r–325r: II Timothy; fols. 325r–326v: Titus; fols. 327r–v: Philemon; fols. 327v–340r: Hebrews; fols. 342r–346r: List of Acts and Epistles readings for the movable feasts; fols. 346r–352v: List of Acts and Epistles readings for the immovable feasts
3. Hand note: One hand throughout

fol. 9r:

1. 
2. Title: Evangelist Matthew
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Comment:

   The inscription reads "St. Matthew" in Greek.

   The front of the Evangelist's face and the lower part of his tunic were overpainted in the early twentieth century (they must have been damaged).

fol. 10r:

1. 
2. Title: Title page of the Gospel of Matthew
3. Form: Ornamental headpiece
4. Text: Matthew 1:1-9

fol. 56r:

1. 
2. Title: Evangelist Mark
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Comment:

   The inscription reads "St. Mark" in Greek.

fol. 57r:

1. 
2. Title: Title page of the Gospel of Mark
3. Form: Ornamental headpiece
4. Text: Mark 1:1-8

fol. 87r:

1. 
2. Title: Evangelist Luke
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Text: Luke 1:1 (on the book in front of the Evangelist)

fol. 88r:

1. 
2. Title: Title page of the Gospel of Luke
3. Form: Ornamental headpiece
4. Text: Luke 1:1-8

fol. 138r:

1. 
2. Title: Evangelist John
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Comment:

   The inscription reads "St. John the Theologian" in Greek.

fol. 139r:

1. 
2. Title: Title page of the Gospel of John
3. Form: Ornamental headpiece
4. Text: John 1:1-12

fol. 192r:

1. 
2. Title: Title page of the Acts of the Apostles
3. Form: Ornamental headpiece
4. Text: Acts 1:1-8

The binding is not original.

Early twentieth-century binding by Léon Gruel, Paris; brown morocco with gilt silver studs along the edges, small gilt silver corner bosses of cherubim, blind-stamped symbols of the Evangelists in neo-Gothic style on both covers, two gilt silver clasps (lower one now missing), spine with five raised bands and the name “Gruel” stamped in gold at the bottom, two paper flyleaves on each side (watermarked with a Britannia inside an oval)

In the Chilandari Monastery (or one of its dependencies), Mount Athos, ca. 1628

Léon Gruel, Paris (his no. 1482)

Henry Walters, Baltimore, purchased from Gruel before 1931

Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters' bequest

Clark, K.W. A Descriptive Catalogue of Greek New Testament Manuscripts in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1937, pp. 353–357, with pl. lvii.

Berkowitz, D.S. In Remembrance of Creation: Evolution of Art and Scholarship in the Medieval and Renaissance Bible. Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press, 1968, p. 23, cat. no. 9.

The Year 1200: A Centennial Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1: Catalogue, ed. K. Hoffman. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1970, pp. 296-297, cat. no. 290.

Buchthal, H., and H. Belting, Patronage in Thirteenth-Century Constantinople: An Atelier of Late Byzantine Book Illumination and Calligraphy. Dumbarton Oaks Studies 16. Washington DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1978, pp. 109–110, with pls. 5–7.

Parpulov, G.R. “A Catalogue of the Greek Manuscripts at the Walters Art Museum.” Journal of the Walters Art Museum 62 (2004): pp. 71-189, pp. 96-99, p. 152 (fols. 251v-252r, fol. 341).

Principal cataloger: Parpulov, Georgi R.

Editors: Herbert, Lynley; Noel, William

Copy editor: Dibble, Charles

Conservators: Owen, Linda; Quandt, Abigail

Contributors: Bockrath, Diane; Emery, Doug; Joyal, Stephanie; Noel, William; Tabritha, Ariel; Toth, Michael B.

The Walters Art Museum

Licensed for use under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Access Rights, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcode. It is requested that copies of any published articles based on the information in this data set be sent to the curator of manuscripts, The Walters Art Museum, 600 North Charles Street, Baltimore MD 21201.