291:
404:
275:
240:
263:
220:
31:
116:
189:. Most pages have small "frieze" images in a landscape format taking the width of the written page. These are interspersed in the text, with between none and three per page, the number and placement in the text depending on the story at that particular point. Other images are near-squares, with the text wrapping round them, and there are larger or whole page miniatures at a few key points.
209:
main master, responsible for the royal portrait and other major scenes on a larger scale, has been claimed to be very innovative in his technique, while a second master partly followed his style, and the third was more conservative. However non-Bulgarian historians regard the style as a somewhat conservative one which "adhered closely to
Byzantine models". According to
192:
Several scenes are shown more than once as they appear in the different gospels. Many images contain more than one scene side by side, or sometimes one above the other. The images probably follow closely a lost Greek model, perhaps of the 11th or 12th century. The miniatures are mostly very close to
171:
of a grid with 625 squares containing letters, in which the name of the book, as "Io
Alexander Tsarya Tetravaggel" is spelled out several times, a unique feature in such a manuscript. The centre square contains the "Iῶ" from which all readings begin. Folio 74, which probably contained a miniature
208:
The colophon, unusually, refers to but does not name the artists (in the plural) who worked on the book, and the hands of three main masters can be detected, as well as other less competent stretches which were probably the work of less experienced trainees. All would probably have been monks. The
435:
in 1876, and after her death, his entire collection was given to the museum in 1917 by his daughter Darea, 16th
Baroness Zouche (1860–1917), which enabled more detailed examination of the book. When the British Library was created in 1973, the manuscript was transferred to the British Library.
430:
describes it as "shamelessly cadged" from the abbot. This probably saved the manuscript from being destroyed by the fire that burnt down the monastery library in 1905. Curzon released an inventory of his collection of manuscripts in 1849, the first time the
Tetraevangelia was presented to the
147:
probably decorated with gold, gems and pearls on top of this have disappeared. The nail holes where these were fixed on are evident, but it would not have covered all the binding, even on the front, as the leather is stamped with patterns and a
357:, or indeed whether he devised the magic square. Probably at least three different artists worked on the miniatures, but as was usual no names are given. The handwriting of the manuscript shows definite similarity with that of the
298:
Folios 2v and 3r have a famous double spread miniature of the Tsar, his second wife, and his five children from both marriages, with his son-in-law on the far left, all identified by inscriptions. All wear crowns, have
213:, "All the painters use saturated colours, relish picturesque details and confidently handle a linear, basically twelfth-century Byzantine manner that is distinctly archaic by the standards of the fourteenth century."
380:
possibly by a
Bulgarian fugitive, marking the last time for nearly half a millennium it would be in its native Bulgaria. It spent a number of years there and was later bought on the orders and with the resources of
689:
184:
The gospels are very heavily illuminated by the standards of the West
European Late Middle Ages, following Byzantine traditions, going back to Early Byzantine luxury manuscripts of the scriptures such as the
321:
and studded with gems that was a key part of the imperial insignia of
Byzantine emperors. From the previous century this had begun to be shown in imperial portraits of other Orthodox rulers, such those of
431:
academic world. Direct work with the original was, however, impossible, which caused speculation, supposition and rumours related to the manuscript. His son placed his collection on permanent loan in the
239:
349:
The text of the manuscript was all written by a monk named Simeon in 1355–1356 on the orders of Ivan
Alexander, probably for use in his private chapel. Simeon gives his name in the
337:
There are a number of other portraits of the tsar; at the end of each gospel he is shown at small size in an arcade with the evangelist, and he appears in a large scene of the
426:, 1810–1873), who visited the monastery in 1837, was given the Tetraevangelia as a present by the abbot. This was to his surprise and delight, according to his own account;
262:
219:
780:, Vol. 74, No. 2 (Apr., 1996), pp. 302–304, Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School of Slavonic and East European Studies,
167:
or calendar listing saint's feast days. There is also a short guide on studying the scriptures. Before this, at the end of the original book on f. 273v, is a
274:
341:. In the Paris Greek gospel book with similar images (see above) the equivalent images at the end of each gospel show the evangelist with the abbot.
17:
885:
807:
880:
828:
502:
388:(also a "John Alexander"), which is evidenced by a red-ink marginal note on folio 5. The later fate of the manuscript until its arrival in
845:
875:
865:
99:
folios, 33 by 24.3 cm in size, later paginated with pencil. The language of the text is variously described as
Bulgarian,
764:
745:
311:
emerges from the cloud to bless them. But only the tsar and his eldest son, standing to the left of him, wear a form of the
290:
84:, and has been described as "the most celebrated work of art produced in Bulgaria before it fell to the Turks in 1393".
900:
92:
860:
205:, cod grec 74), and were probably very largely copied from this or another Byzantine exemplar in the same tradition.
100:
419:
905:
895:
760:
741:
724:
440:
353:
on f. 275. It is not certain whether Simeon also illuminated the
Tetraevangelia or simply was a scribe and
300:
250:
403:
331:
226:
400:
is uncertain, but the document was recorded as part of the monastery's collection in the 17th century.
870:
382:
254:
73:
70:
811:
690:"Gospels of Tsar Ivan Alexander | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization"
104:
155:
The last gathering, with ff. 276–284, is a later insertion with a smaller page size, containing a
825:
506:
408:
385:
362:
77:
890:
389:
63:
30:
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334:. The face of the tsar is very carefully painted and clearly attempts a realistic likeness.
194:
246:
769:
427:
210:
8:
358:
51:
795:
787:
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737:
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327:
308:
81:
144:
458:
80:. The manuscript is regarded as one of the most important manuscripts of medieval
832:
115:
88:
661:
the passage from Curzon's catalogue of his collection is quoted by Dimitrova, 22
729:
432:
393:
373:
338:
198:
186:
143:
of red leather over wooden boards is original, but the elements of a metalwork
854:
452:
173:
799:
91:(Add. MS 39627), contains the text of the Four Gospels illustrated with 366
423:
354:
168:
128:
120:
34:
A miniature from the Tetraevangelia depicting the tsar and the royal family
397:
318:
140:
132:
66:
268:
Folio 212v; the end of Luke, with the Tsar and the (barefoot) evangelist
781:
230:
135:, but there are markings showing which passages were to be read in the
164:
160:
96:
412:
377:
156:
369:
304:
149:
136:
755:, # 27, 2004, Metropolitan Museum of Art/Yale University Press,
736:, # 27, 2004, Metropolitan Museum of Art/Yale University Press,
323:
131:
and some other texts, so is a true gospel book rather than an
313:
193:
those in a Greek manuscript made in the 11th century in the
280:
Folio 10, detail - Nativity, with the Magi appearing twice
202:
625:
McKendrick, 56; Dimitrova, 35-36; Milner-Gulland, 303
163:
and the appropriate gospel readings for them, and a
439:In 2017 the manuscript has been added to UNESCO's
407:Inscription on f. 5.r., recording the purchase by
294:Folio 2v, with the tsar's son-in-law and daughters
852:
846:Biggs, Sarah J., British Library manuscript blog
765:Fully online from the Metropolitan Museum of Art
746:Fully online from the Metropolitan Museum of Art
139:, as well as a list at the end of the book. The
503:"British Library Manuscripts Catalogue entry"
751:McKendrick, Scot, in Evans, Helen C. (ed.),
826:British Library Manuscripts Catalogue entry
792:Chetveroevangelieto na tsar Ivan Aleksandar
376:in 1393, the manuscript was transported to
307:, and above the Tsar and his wife a double
176:, has been cut and stolen in modern times.
69:, written and illustrated in 1355–1356 for
60:Chetveroevangelie na (tsar) Ivan Aleksandar
810:. British Library website. Archived from
794:(in Bulgarian). Sofia: Nauka i Izkustvo.
56:Четвероевангелие на (цар) Иван Александър
786:
402:
289:
114:
29:
443:register as a world heritage document.
110:
14:
886:British Library additional manuscripts
853:
753:Byzantium, Faith and Power (1261–1557)
734:Byzantium, Faith and Power (1261–1557)
285:
27:14th-century manuscript of the Gospels
835:, and fully digitized with 579 images
778:The Slavonic and East European Review
881:14th-century illuminated manuscripts
418:The English traveller and collector
229:, Herod takes advice, and calls the
571:McKendrick, 56; Milner-Gulland, 303
317:, the cloth strip embroidered with
24:
774:The Gospels of Tsar Ivan Alexander
717:The Gospels of Tsar Ivan Alexander
25:
917:
876:14th-century biblical manuscripts
839:
808:"Gospels of Tsar Ivan Alexander"
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261:
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44:Tetraevangelia of Ivan Alexander
18:Tetraevangelia of Ivan Alexander
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673:
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477:
361:(1344–1345), a product of the
48:Four Gospels of Ivan Alexander
40:Gospels of Tsar Ivan Alexander
13:
1:
866:Medieval Bulgarian literature
471:
462:
179:
251:Feeding of the Five Thousand
7:
446:
332:Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia
87:The manuscript, now in the
10:
922:
709:
344:
255:Jesus Walking on the Water
159:or liturgical calendar of
901:Middle Bulgarian language
776:by Ekaterina Dimitrova",
719:, 1994, British Library,
390:monastery of Agiou Pavlou
55:
861:Christianity in Bulgaria
386:Alexander I of Moldavia
363:Tarnovo Literary School
78:Second Bulgarian Empire
906:Agiou Pavlou Monastery
715:Dimitrova, Ekaterina,
415:
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127:The book contains the
124:
64:illuminated manuscript
35:
896:Bulgarian manuscripts
406:
293:
195:Monastery of Stoudios
118:
33:
770:Milner-Gulland, R.R.
748:(and see McKendrick)
211:Robin Milner-Gulland
111:Contents and binding
95:and consists of 286
58:, transliterated as
670:Milner-Gulland, 302
607:Milner-Gulland, 303
562:Milner-Gulland, 303
526:Milner-Gulland, 304
441:Memory of the World
286:The royal portraits
831:2023-01-06 at the
788:Zhivkova, Lyudmila
416:
368:After the fall of
359:Manasses Chronicle
296:
125:
36:
871:Athos manuscripts
201:(now in Paris as
197:, the largest in
172:illustrating the
82:Bulgarian culture
16:(Redirected from
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553:Dimitrova, 26-27
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535:Dimitrova, 63-64
533:
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505:. Archived from
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409:Prince Alexander
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247:Matthew 14:15-31
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145:treasure binding
103:, Slavonic, and
101:Middle Bulgarian
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339:Last Judgement
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199:Constantinople
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74:Ivan Alexander
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9:
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891:Bulgarian art
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509:on 2023-01-06
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459:Tomić Psalter
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453:Sofia Psalter
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816:. Retrieved
812:the original
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511:. Retrieved
507:the original
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424:Baron Zouche
422:(later 14th
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355:calligrapher
348:
336:
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303:, and carry
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169:magic square
154:
129:four Gospels
126:
121:magic square
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59:
47:
43:
39:
37:
772:"Review of
466: 1360
398:Mount Athos
319:gold thread
309:Hand of God
141:bookbinding
133:evangeliary
67:Gospel Book
855:Categories
818:2006-03-25
761:1588391140
742:1588391140
725:0712303499
699:2018-03-15
513:2014-04-12
472:References
245:Folio 45;
231:Three Magi
180:Miniatures
161:feast days
93:miniatures
225:Folio 9;
165:synaxaria
123:on f.273v
97:parchment
52:Bulgarian
829:Archived
800:45937154
790:(1980).
616:Evans, 8
447:See also
413:Moldavia
378:Moldavia
374:Ottomans
351:colophon
330:and the
305:sceptres
233:to him
157:menology
62:) is an
732:(ed.),
710:Sources
394:St Paul
372:to the
370:Tarnovo
345:History
328:Georgia
150:griffin
137:liturgy
76:of the
798:
759:
740:
723:
455:, 1337
383:Prince
324:Serbia
249:, the
782:JSTOR
396:) on
314:loros
301:halos
46:, or
796:OCLC
757:ISBN
738:ISBN
721:ISBN
253:and
119:The
71:Tsar
38:The
411:in
203:BnF
857::
763:,
744:,
692:.
463:c.
461:,
326:,
152:.
107:.
54::
42:,
821:.
802:.
702:.
516:.
392:(
50:(
20:)
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