Produced in the Imperial scriptorium at Constantinople, this full-page illumination is from a tetraevangelion—a volume containing the four Gospels. It was made for a member of the imperial family, probably the Byzantine Emperor John II Komnenos, his wife Eirene, or their son Alexios. It occupies a privileged position at the opening of Luke’s Gospel, opposite an image of the Evangelist.

Elizabeth, reclining on a draped bed, dominates the scene. She is attended by two maidservants, one offering her food in an elaborate golden dish, the other bearing a peacock-feather fan. The latter looks over her shoulder to where, at top right, three female attendants appear to be discussing the birth. Below, a woman prepares the infant Baptist’s cradle, a magnificent object decorated with architectural forms, its legs resting on a pair of rockers. Another woman (or perhaps the same one, seen twice) pours water from a golden ewer into the large gilded and decorated basin in which the baby sits, while her companion prepares to bathe him, and in a magnificent lion-headed brazier, logs give off red flames. Above, in a space outside Elizabeth’s chamber, Zechariah writes John’s name, attended by three men, who, like the women directly above them, are discussing the event.

The different episodes can be read as disparate scenes, divided by architectural elements, yet they are unified by the use of repeated colours, predominantly red, blue, and white. Elizabeth stands out partly by virtue of her large size, but also on account of her dark-hued draperies. The abundance of gold leaf, and the splendid furniture, golden vessels, lavish textiles, and peacock fan reflect the status of the book’s owners, but may additionally allude to the Baptist’s own status as a member of the Jewish elite. Zechariah was a priest, and Elizabeth a descendant of Aaron; John’s birth was announced in the Temple, the holiest place of its cultic centre.

This makes his eventual departure for the wilderness and his ministry there the more dramatic by contrast.

References

Anderson, Jeffrey C. 1991. ‘The Illustrated Sermons of James the Monk: Their Dates, Order and Place in the History of Byzantine Art’, Viator 22: 69–120

Stornaiolo, Cosimo. 1895. Codices Urbinates graeci Bibliothecae Vaticanae descripti (Rome: Vatican Press)