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Evangelist Luke
From the Morgan Gospels
Northeast France, second half of the 9th century
9 5/8 x 8 1/4 in. (24.5 x 21 cm)
The Pierpont Morgan Library, New York. Purchase by John Pierpont Morgan, Jr., 1919. MS M. 640
Together with the following image, this work is part of a beautiful two-page spread that applies the luxury of gold to a monochrome aesthetic in the tradition of the Utrecht Psalter. It forcefully demonstrates that medieval patrons deemed drawings suitable for luxury book production. The page opening here harmoniously juxtaposes the animated line of the evangelist’s portrait with the restrained elegance of the initial “Q.”
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