Even gold
will gather tarnish, and in several such MSS. has turned of a rusty red.
Gold ink was not invariably confined to tinted vellum; it was often used
on the plain ground. The copy of the Old Testament in Greek, presented
by the high priest Eleazar to King Ptolemy Philadelphus, was a roll of
fine white vellum, upon which the text was written in letters of gold.
To enter upon the antiquities of Greek pal?ography would lead us too far
from our track in view of the brevity of our present survey. We
therefore with some reluctance turn from this interesting topic to our
more immediate subject. We may remark, however, that the great majority
of Greek MSS. are written on vellum. In the eleventh century are found
instances of what is called _charta bombycina_, or cotton-paper,
appearing more plentifully in the twelfth century, but on the whole
vellum is the chief material of Byzantine illuminated books. Much has
been said about the want of life and total lack of variety of treatment
in this school of art. To a very great extent the charge is just, yet it
could scarcely be otherwise. The one circumstance which compelled
Byzantine work to remain so long as if cast in one unalterable mould,
and thus to differ so strangely from that of Western artists, was due to
the fact that in very early Christian times the scribes and illuminators
were enrolled into a minutely organised corporation originating
primarily in monasticism, but by no means confined to the monastic
Orders.
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