Freer Gospels book cover
Type:
Panel paintings,
Book covers
Date:
Seventh century
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country):
Egypt
Medium:
Encaustic painting,
Wood
Dimensions:
21.3 × 14.3 × 1.6 cm
Description:
These painted wooden panels with encaustic images of the evangelists were once book covers for an earlier Greek Gospel manuscript (the fifth-century Freer Gospels). The right cover has Mark and Luke, and the left cover has Matthew and John, each identified in a Greek inscription. The standing figures with prominent haloes hold copies of jeweled Gospel books in draped hands. This covering of the hands was a mark of reverence for the text, and may reflect how the enclosed book itself was treated by the Coptic Christians who owned it. In fact, chains were added to these wooden covers, suggesting that the book was not opened fully for reading but instead kept closed and treated more as an enshrined relic.
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
3
Repository and Online Resources:
• These book covers are now in the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art (Freer Gallery of Art) in Washington, DC.
