The Khitrovo Gospels is a Russian

illuminated Illuminated may refer to: * "Illuminated" (song), by Hurts * Illuminated Film Company, a British animation house * ''Illuminated'', alternative title of Black Sheep (Nat & Alex Wolff album) * Illuminated manuscript See also * Illuminate (disambi ...

Gospel Book A Gospel Book, Evangelion, or Book of the Gospels (Greek: , ''Evangélion'') is a codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament – normally all four – centering on the life of Jesus of Nazar ...

from the late 14th or early 15th century. The book has numerous similarities to the Koshka Gospels, Kiev Psalter of 1397, and other East Slavic manuscripts of the 1390s. It contains eight full page miniatures; four

Evangelist portrait Evangelist portraits are a specific type of miniature included in ancient and mediaeval illuminated manuscript Gospel Books, and later in Bibles and other books, as well as other media. Each Gospel of the Four Evangelists, the books of Matthew, ...

s and four pictures of their symbols (the eagle, angel, lion, and bull), the latter the earliest known Russian full-page examples. The angel is attributed to

Andrei Rublev Andrei Rublev ( rus, Андре́й Рублёв, p=ɐnˈdrʲej rʊˈblʲɵf , also transliterated as ''Andrey Rublyov'') was a Muscovite icon painter born in the 1360s who died between 1427 and 1430 in Moscow. He is considered to be one of the ...

, and is the only illumination usually attributed to him, although some art historians incline to attribute at least all the full-pages miniatures to him. All the initials are painted in colour and gold, and many pages are richly ornamented. The style is elegant with light colours and expressive faces.Popova, Olga, ''Russian Illuminated Manuscripts'', Thames & Hudson, London (or Braziller NY), 1984, nos 36-39 The gospel takes its name from

Bogdan Khitrovo Bogdan Matveyevich Khitrovo (russian: Богдан Матвеевич Хитрово) (ca. 1615 – 27 March 1680) was a high-placed Russian statesman, or boyar, who served Tsar Alexis and his son Fyodor III, supporting the party of Maria Milosla ...

, a powerful boyar who obtained the manuscript from Tsar

Fyodor III Fyodor III Alekséyevich (in Russian: ''Фёдор III Алексеевич'') or Feodor III Alekséyevich (9 June 1661 – 7 May 1682) was the Tsar of Russia between 1676 and 1682. While disabled and paralyzed from birth, he managed to pass refo ...

. Khitrovo bequeathed the gospel to the Trinity Monastery near

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, where Andrey Rublev used to be a monk. After the nationalisation of the monastic library the Khitrovo Gospel was incorporated in the holdings of the

Russian State Library The Russian State Library (russian: Российская государственная библиотека, Rossiyskaya gosudarstvennaya biblioteka) is one of the three national libraries of Russia, located in Moscow. It is the largest librar ...

in Moscow.

References

An online view and a short description
Treasure no. 4 of Rossiiskaya Gosudarstvennaya Biblioteka (Russian-Moscow National Library) *Th

at

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Memory of the World Register Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...

. {{Commonscat 1390s books East Slavic manuscripts Gospel Books Memory of the World Register in Russia National Library of Russia collection Cyrillic manuscripts