Alaverdi Gospels

Beginning of the Gospel of Matthew from the Alaverdi Gospels

The Alaverdi Gospels (Alaverdi Four Gospels) is a Georgian gospel manuscript copied in the Georgian monastery of Black Mountain Kalipos in 1054[1][2][3][4][5] by the calligraphers Giorgi and John Dvali. It is the only Georgian manuscript to contain a mandylion, an impression of the face of the Savior on a shroud. The cover, composed of leather and metal, is adorned with a painted icon of Jesus Christ. This icon was subsequently set into a silver-chased frame embellished with precious stones and cloisonné enamel images of St. George, crafted in the 11th-12th century AD. Holy objects were traditionally stored in the sockets on the cover. The cover itself dates back to the late Middle Ages. [6][7][8]

Ivane, the son of Liparit Bagvashi, brought the book to Georgia in 1059 as a sign of obedience to Bagrat IV.[9]

High-quality parchment is used as writing material. contains 330 pages; The dimensions of the sheets are: 24X19 centimeters. It was written in both Nuskhuri and Asomatavruli scripts.[10]

References

1. Tvaltvadze, Darejan (2012-01-01), ".TheManuscripts of Georgian Translations of theGospels from the BlackMountain", Textual Research on the Psalms and Gospels / Recherches textuelles sur les psaumes et les évangiles, Brill, pp. 213–229, ISBN 978-90-04-21443-9, retrieved 2024-07-07
2. Sakʻartʻvelos siżveleni (in Georgian). Sakʻartʻvelos kulturuli memkvidreobis sainpʻormacʻio cʻentri. 2006.
3. Jeffreys, Elizabeth; Haarer, Fiona K.; Gilliland, Judith (2006). Proceedings of the 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies: Abstracts of communications. Ashgate. ISBN 978-0-7546-5740-8.
4. Ševčenko, Ihor; Litavrin, G. G.; Hanak, Walter K. (1996). Acts: XVIIIth International Congress of Byzantine Studies : Selected Papers, Main and Communications : Moscow, 1991. Byzantine Studies Press. ISBN 978-1-891781-02-5.
5. Schwartz, Ellen C. (2021). The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Art and Architecture. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-027735-2.
6. Wiener, James Blake. "The Alaverdi Gospels". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
7. Guscin, Mark (2022-09-06). Recent Studies on the Image of Edessa: Iconography, History and Theology. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5275-8731-1.
8. Ciggaar, Krijna Nelly; Metcalf, David Michael (2006). East and West in the Medieval Eastern Mediterranean: Antioch from the Byzantine Reconquest Until the End of the Crusader Principality. Peeters Publishers. p. 21. ISBN 978-90-429-1735-4.
9. ოსეფაშვილი, ლალი (2005). ქართულ ხელნაწერ ოთხთავთა თავფურწლის მინიატურების იკონოგრაფიული თავისებურებანი: ჯვარი, "ვედრება" IX-XII სს (in Georgian). გამომცემლობა "უნივერსალი". ISBN 978-99940-0-553-6.
10. Ciggaar, Krijna Nelly; Metcalf, David Michael (2006). East and West in the Medieval Eastern Mediterranean: Antioch from the Byzantine Reconquest Until the End of the Crusader Principality. Peeters Publishers. p. 21. ISBN 978-90-429-1735-4.