is one containing
portions of the Book of Genesis in Greek preserved in the Imperial
Library at Vienna. It is a mere fragment, only twenty-six leaves of
purple vellum--that is, bearing the imperial stain--yet it contains
eighty-eight pictures. We call them miniatures, but we must remember
that by "miniator" a Roman bookseller would not understand what we call
a miniaturist; and, as we have said, the word "illuminator" was not then
known.
This Vienna Genesis is not introduced among illuminated books,
therefore, because of its miniatures--pictures we prefer to call
them--but because the text is nearly all written in _gold_ and _silver_
letters. The pictures, according to the Greek manner, are placed in
little square frames. They were executed, no doubt, by a professional
painter, not without technical skill and not hampered by monastic
restrictions. The symbolism which underlies all early art is here shown
in the allegorical figures (such as we shall meet with again in later
Byzantine work), which are introduced to interpret the scene. We see the
same thing in the catacombs. Being a relic of great importance, this
Genesis codex has been often described and examples given of its
pictures. Of course, in a little manual like the present we cannot
pretend to exhibit the literature of our subject.
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