End 31.12.1187
Properties
| ID | 132934 |
|---|---|
| System Class | |
| Artifact | Manuscript |
| Case Study | Beyond East and West: Sacred Landscapes Duklja and Raška |
| Stylistic Classification | Latin-Byzantine Combination |
Description
Miroslav's Gospel is the oldest Serbian Cyrillic manuscript and one of the most important Serbian medieval manuscripts.
It was probably made for the liturgical needs of the Church of St. Peter on Lim (near Bijelo Polje) at the end of the 12th century (most likely between 1180-1187). The manuscript is named after its ktetor, Prince Miroslav of Hum (brother of Stefan Nemanja), who is also the founder of the aforementioned St. Peter's Church.
The content of the codex is based on the model from Saint Sophia in Constantinople, and the decoration, first of all the three hundred initials, exudes various Western influences - from Carolingian to Romanesque. It is believed that the illuminators came from Italy or southern Dalmatia. Stylistically different is the miniature with the busts of the evangelist at the beginning of the manuscript (l. 1v), whose iconographic patterns are seen in the manuscripts of the Christian Orient.
It is possible that the Miroslav Gospel was created in some coastal scriptorium, as indicated by certain elements in the language and manner of decoration. It is assumed that it reached the Hilandar Monastery during the formation of its library. It was kept there until 1896, when the Hilandar brotherhood presented it to King Aleksandar Obrenović.
Today it is kept in the National Museum in Belgrade (inv. no. 1536). Sheet 166 is in the National Library of Russia, in Saint-Petersburg.