The Rossano Codex is the oldest illustrated New Testament manuscript in existence, made of purple-dyed parchment and written with gold and silver ink. The fourteen pages of prefatory miniatures follow the liturgical order of the readings of Lent.

The miniature depicting the Communion of the Apostles is depicted on folio 3v, under the heading (in Greek): ‘Taking bread [and] giving thanks, he gave to them, saying, “This is my body”’. Six figures—men dressed in white tunics and mantles—process in a queue towards a haloed Jesus wearing the royal colours of gold and purple on the left. The first apostle bends over to kiss the right hand of Christ, whose left hand holds a small loaf of bread. The second figure raises his hands toward heaven, and the third’s hands are held out and reverentially covered, in anticipation of receiving the sacramental gifts. The remaining three figures appear to walk with their hands held open in front of them, in a gesture of prayer and reception.

Beneath this scene are four haloed male bust-length figures, labelled left to right as David, Moses, David, and Isaiah. Each figure raises a hand towards the procession above in a gesture indicating speech, and stands behind a large rectangular text box resembling a rostrum, which displays the content of their utterances. The first David on the left utters words from Psalm 33:9: ‘Taste and see that the Lord is good’. Next is Moses: ‘This is the bread which the Lord gave to you from heaven to eat’ (Exodus 16:15). Then David again: ‘Bread from heaven he gave to them; man ate the bread of angels’ (Psalm 77:24–5). And finally, Isaiah’s text reads: ‘And he sent to me one of the seraphim, and he had in his hand a coal of fire, and he said to me, “Son of Man, this will take away your sins”’ (Isaiah 6:6–7).

Each of these verses presents a typological and prophetic interpretation of the sacrament of the Eucharist occurring above, focusing particularly on the bread. These associations are reinforced by the facing folio, which shows a similar procession, with similar prophets and exegetical texts, and the reception of Holy Communion in the form of wine.

John 21, likewise, invites us—with the disciples—to find the Eucharist where we may not have expected it, as Jesus first takes and then shares bread on the beach.

References

Cavallo, Guglielmo, Jean Gribomont, and William C. Loerke. 1987. Codex Purpureus Rossanensis, Museo Dell’Arcivescovado, Rossano Calabro (Rome: Salerno Editrice)

Hixson, Elijah. 2016. ‘Forty Excerpts from the Greek Old Testament in Codex Rossanensis, a Sixth Century Gospels Manuscript’, The Journal of Theological Studies, 67.2: 507–41

Loerke, William C. 1961. ‘The Miniatures of the Trial in the Rossano Gospels’, The Art Bulletin, 43. 3:171–95

Weitzmann, Kurt (ed.). 1979. Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art, 3rd–7th Century (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art)