CREATOR UNKNOWN

Russia, 18th century. MS 064

These two lavishly illuminated leaves come from a collection of Russian Bible stories written in Old Church Slavonic. While it is currently not known with certainty what stories these two leaves depict, it is possible that one of them depicts King David receiving a staff or scepter from Psalm 23:4, while the other depicts a death scene where the soul, shown as naked child, leaves a saint’s body aided by an angel. Given the fact that an animal, possibly a lion, is being barred from the death scene, it may be a depiction of St. Jerome, who has a story of him removing a thorn from a lion’s paw. Both full-page illuminations have a palette dominant in pink and yellow, and feature great examples of architectural illumination.

Bibliography

Two Ecclesiastical Illuminations from a Russian MS. University of Oregon, Special Collections & University Archives, MS 064. https://alliance-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/3uoa1r/CP71269138460001451