Manuscript Illumination with the Evangelist Luke

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

On a single page from a gospel book, the illumination shows the evangelist Luke seated on a backless chair, reaching with his left arm toward the open book on a pedestal before him. He wears a loose-fitting blue tunic and white himation, and sandals on his feet. He holds a quill pen in his right hand as he pauses to contemplate the text. His sandaled feet rest on a footstool, next to a small book cabinet that extends beyond the border of the illumination. Careful study of the cabinet reveals the artist's attention to detail, for there neatly arranged are all of Luke's writing implements, including his inkwell and a knife for sharpening his quills. The sparse furnishings in the scene—pedestal, chair, footstool, and cabinet—are all carefully painted in tan and oak shades with white highlighting and texturing. A gold ground provides the only backdrop for the seated figure, framed by a simple ochre and red border. The short inscription at the top is the Greek o hag[ios] Loukas (Saint Luke). The other side of the leaf was left blank. This was often the case in the Late Byzantine period, when it was common practice to execute the illuminations for a codex separately and tip them into the pages of text afterward. The blank side is thus the leaf's recto, so that the illumination could face the opening text of Luke's gospel.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world. Displayed in both The Met Fifth Avenue and in the Museum's branch in northern Manhattan, The Met Cloisters, the collection encompasses the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome in the fourth century to the beginning of the Renaissance in the early sixteenth century. It also includes pre-medieval European works of art created during the Bronze Age and early Iron Age.

Metropolitan Museum of Art