Codex Purpureus Rossanensis

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Codex Purpureus ( Introduction)

Codex Purpureus  is an illuminated Greek evangeliary containing the whole Gospel of Matthew, almost all the gospel of Mark, of which only verses 15- 20 are missing , and a part of  Eusebio's  letter to Copiano about the concordance of the gospels. It is an anonymous text( the authors are unknown) and mutilated . Of the original 400 sheets , only 188 of decorated  parchment dyed in purple  remain . The handwriting in which it is written is the capital Biblical or Greek uncial , with words in scriptio continua ( with no separation of the letters ), without accents, breathings, punctuation marks, except for the  full stop- punctum, which marks the passing from a period to the other.

The text is distributed on two columns of twenty lines , the first three of which , making up the incipit of the Gospels,  have the characters in gold, while the rest is in silver. The illuminations kept in the codex are fifteen. Twelve of  them (I,II, II, IV, V, VI, VII, X, XI, XII, XIII), represent episodes of the life of Christ, one reproduces the Canon of concordance of the Evangelists (IX), while the last is a portrait of Mark.

There are no elements to establish with certainty the  dating of the Codex Purpureus , the place in which it was made  and the identity of the person who brought it  to Rossano.

Most of the experts, basing themselves on the style of the manuscript, for the dating, agree  on a period between the IV and the VI-VII. century. The most substantiated  century is the VI.  From the comparison with other two artefacts of the same period , of uncertain location, we can deduce that probably the Codex was made in Syria, maybe in Antioch.  It is assumed that the migratory  wave of the Eastern Greek monks of the VII c. , because of the first iconoclasm, led to Rossano a group of monks who kept the Holy Text. But also a noble aristocrat might have brought it to Rossano from the court of Byzantium.

The text was mentioned for the first time in 1846  by journalist Cesare Malpica  and was scientifically studied in 1879 by the German Oscar von Gebhardt and Adolf Harnack, who submitted it to the attention of the international culture. The Codex Purpureus Rossanensis is in the list  of the nominations to be recognized by Unesco among the excellent property of  the world artistic heritage.

The last supper and the washing of the fee

Description

Christ and the twelve disciples are placed around a semicircular table , at the center of which there is a golden cup. The sixth apostle on the left dips the bread in it, while Christ raises his hand as if he wanted to speak. The illumination depicts the action described in the Mark�s gospel , lines 26-23: � the person who dips his hand in the plate with me , will betray me�. The episode is commented by a verse in Greek written on top,� verily I tell you that one of you will betray me ( Mark 26 � 21) . In the scene on the right, the washing of the feet is proposed, in the moment in which Christ , bending, washes Peter�s feet; The Greek verse says : �He (Peter) tells him: you will never wash my feet� ( John 13, 8).

The healing of the born blind man

Description

In the illumination two scenes of the healing of the blindman are depicted . In the former , on the left, Christ, followed by Andrew and by a younger disciple, meets the blind man, who, bending forward and leaning a stick against his breast , touches Christ�s right hand and brings it to his eyes. In the right scene , the blindman pushes himself to the edge of a tub to wash his face and, in front of a crowd of people, the miracle is performed and the blindman opens his eyes .

The entry of Jesus into Jerusalem

Description

In the illumination Christ enters from the left , sitting on a she-ass, followed by two disciples who discuss. In front of him and in front of the animal two young boys lay a cloth . Behind him a group of men , holding some palm branches can be seen, while four children go out of the walls of the town . This is depicted with high walls and roofs of different colours, on which other people, also shaking palm branches , can be seen .

The choice between Jesus and Barabbas

Description

In the upper half of the illuminated , Pilates is portrayed in the centre, sitting in the same Court present in the illumination of Christ�s trial . On the sides of the court a crowd of men gesticulate, while on the right a character wearing a uniform is busy writing on a wax table. In the lower half of the page, on the left, Christ is flanked by two officers , on the right Barabbas is with two warders and looks at Pilates , expecting a decision from him . The warder dressed in red holds a rope around Barabbas�s neck.

Talk with the priests of the temple

Description

The details of the scene are almost all taken from the second chapter of the Gospel of John. The temple is portrayed on the left in a quite sketchy way. In the courtyard with columns, the talk between Jesus and the priests of the temple takes place. Christ, represented between the two black columns , holds in his right hand a whip , while on the right , escaping men and animals are represented. The illumination portrays Christ with the priests after the expulsion of the merchants from the temple.

Parable of the good Samaritan

Description

In the scene we find on the right the representation of a town in the distance, while in the foreground there is Christ bending and stretching his arms to help a naked and wounded man, laying on the ground . Behind the man there is an angel who is giving a golden cup to Jesus. In the following scene the wounded man is sitting on a donkey , Jesus is walking in front of the animal, while putting some coins on the palms of the hands of an innkeeper .
Because of the bad conditions of the parchment , half figure of the innkeeper , has disappeared and what remains is a reddish shade of his head. According to Guglielmo Cavallo, the angel , not mentioned by Luke, must have been inserted in the scene on the base of an allegorical � patriotic comment with allegorical � popular interpretation . According to it the Samaritan becomes Christ, the wounded man represents the fallen Mankind and the hotel represents the Church .

Mark�s portrait

Description

Mark�s portrait is the only figure of an Evangelist left in a Greek codex of the gospels prior to X century, as palaeographer G. Cavallo, pointed out. The evangelist sitting, leans forward, his gaze being fixed on his right hand which rests on a large roll open on his knee and with the title of his Gospel:� Beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, son of God�. In front of him a female figure, wrapped in a blue gown, probably , Saint Sophie, (Wisdom )seems to dictate what she must write.

Lazzaro�s Resurrection

Description

The illumination represents Jesus Christ , blessing with his right hand while pronouncing the order:� Lazarus, get up and walk!�. Behind Jesus the group of the apostles can be seen , while in front of him there are Mary, Martha, with their backs to the sepulcher , still unaware of the resurrection of their brother Lazarus. . Two young boys, portrayed between the two women and the cave, express the two sisters� suffering and their immediate astonishment. To the side of the resurrected man, a young boy appears. He is covered to his nose with a pink gown ,and he seems to lead Lazarus , wrapped in the bands of a white sheet , out of the sepulcher.
In the illumination two scenes of the miracle are depicted : that in which Jesus is prayed for Lazarus�s healing and that in which the miracle is performed .

Communion of the Saints

Description

This scene occupies two pages of the Codex. On the left six apostles move sequentially to receive bread from Christ. The two apostles closest to Christ are portrayed in the following way: the former is bent to get bread , the latter has his hands and arms raised to thank. One of the apostles , closest to Christ, is portrayed bent to get bread , while the other has his hands and arms raised to thank . The author represents them one beside the other , and with a movement of only the busts of the characters, lets us imagine the movement of the same character. At the same time the other four apostles behind them reproduce the advancement of the same subject. . Over the characters the words of the Eucharistic institution are written: � He took the bread , and spoken some words of thankfulness He gave it to them and said: this is my body�. On the right page, other six apostles move from left to right to receive wine. Over their heads you can read :� After he had taken the drinking cup and spoken the words of thankfulness, He gave it to them and said : This is my blood.�

Christ�s Trial in front of Ponzius Pilate

Description

The illumination , made full page , represents in the upper half, the scene of the beginning of the trial: Jesus Christ is standing on the left , while Pilate is sitting on a chair in the centre; at his back two young boys hold two golden sticks with rectangular plates which represent some portraits. Christ fixes priest Caifa, while priest Anna with black hair and beard, says the accusations . In the opposite part there are five motionless men who look at Christ . Under the trial scene there is Judas�s repentance . The left scene focuses on the restitution of the thirty denarii to the priests and on their refusal . On the right Judas hanging from a tree finishes the episode.

Christ in the Gethsemane

Description

In the illumination Jesus Christ is placed in a landscape made up of the rocky soil of the Gethsemane . . It is possible to see a black horizon representing the darkness of the night , above which you can see a blue stripe with the stars and the crescent . A wide gap and a high rock separate Christ on the right , bent to pray, from Christ on the left , wakening the apostles up . Their figures are almost indecipherable because of wear and tear of the parchment.

Canons title page

Description

The page contains an illumination where the circular decorative band is depicted. This is defined from both the inside and the outside by a golden frame, which intersects along the directrices of the vertical and horizontal diameter . It thus creates four circles , placed in the decorative band. In each of them half the figure of an Evangelist is portrayed against a blue background . The portraits of the four Evangelists don �t have individual characterizations, therefore Matthew is recognizable thanks to the name engraved on top, the others, instead, can be identified thanks to their initials: Mark on the left, Luke on the right and John at the bottom below. Each is connoted for the halo, for the cover of the golden book and for the singular gesture with which they raise their right arm . In the space between one circle and the other , some black, orange, indigo and pink circles can be recognized.
In the centre of this picture it is written in Greek : �Structure of the canon of the concordance of the gospels�

The parable of the ten virgins (See Diocesan Museum 3)

Description

The only source of this parable is Matthew�s Gospel. A panel door divides the scene into two halves . on the left there are the five silly virgins: they are dressed in colourful dresses and, holding unlit torches , walk following the first, who is dressed in black and who knocks on a closed door. In the right scene the five wise virgins can be recognized. They are dressed in white and hold in their hand a lit torch .

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