Why was it inscribed
Written in 1056–57, the Ostromir Gospel is the world’s oldest-known East Slavonic manuscript. The text introduced Christianity to previously isolated and pagan East Slavonic tribes. As an art object, it also represents the genesis of Russian literature and culture.
Where is it
National Library of Russia, St Petersburg, Russia
Christianity was adopted in Russia as late as AD 988 and the Ostromir Gospel was commissioned during its first century as the official religion. The manuscript was created between 21 October 1056 and 12 May 1057, according to an inscription by its scribe, Deacon Grigory, by the order of Ostromir, the governor of Novgorod, then one of the richest cities in Russia.
The manuscript is an aprakos, that is, a lectionary of the Gospels as used in Orthodox Catholic Church services, arranged in weekly order. Unlike Western Church lectionaries, the works of the evangelists begin with John rather than Matthew. It was created as a donation to St Sophia’s, the new cathedral of Novgorod, where it remained for several centuries until its removal to Moscow. In 1806, it was moved to the then Imperial Public Library, now the National Library of Russia in St Petersburg.
The Ostromir Gospel is an expression of the dynamic religious and cultural development in 11th-century Russia, encompassing the dissemination of Christianity among the pagan Slavs, the moves towards a unified state of the Eastern Slavs and the growth of writing. The Gospel is the oldest known manuscript in the Old Russian language and is written in the Cyrillic alphabet which was devised in the 10th century. As an early example of how Russian Cyrillic became the new means of expression of the Christian religion, the manuscript is centrally important in the dynamic evolution of the religion, language and culture of Russia at that time.
More specifically, it expresses the confidence of Russia in its new religion and its place in the world. Russian princes had close connections with the leaders of the Byzantine Empire and European nations further afield, and the cultural and artistic traditions of those lands were influential in Russia. The Gospel is the only book of the 10th and 11th centuries that fuses elements of Byzantine and Western illumination and decoration. It was also among the last major works produced within the unified Christian Church – although the Great Schism between East and West is officially dated at 1054, before the Gospel was produced, in practical, day-to-day terms the church carried on as before. The calendar of saints in the Gospel is drawn from the unified Christian tradition.
A miniature from the Gospel depicted on a postage stamp of the former USSR.
Inscribed 2007
What is it
An 11th-century embroidery stitched in wool, linen, hemp and cotton on linen cloth that depicts pictorially and in narrative detail the political background and military events of the start of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, together with everyday scenes of ordinary life.
Why was it inscribed
The Bayeux Tapestry is a unique artefact of its period, both as a historical document and record, and also as a work of art in its own right.
Where is it
Médiathèque Municipale de Bayeux, Bayeux, France
The Norman Conquest was one of the most significant events in British and European medieval history and the tapestry narrates its early stages in the political and personal events leading up to the military campaign and Battle of Hastings in 1066.
Its images depict, scene by scene and in lively detail, the events between 1064 and 1066 that led up to William, Duke of Normandy’s disputed claim to and taking of the English throne. The story is told arguably from a Norman perspective and includes information that appears in no other contemporary source: for example, an oath of fealty that Harold, Earl of Wessex – later King Harold II of England and William’s rival – was said to have sworn to the duke at Bayeux.
A detail from the tapestry shows what is believed to be King Harold, struck in the eye by an arrow.
The death of King Edward
Border details depict scenes of work.
The tapestry is unique in size and scope. Works of art celebrating military victories were common but virtually none remain now beyond references in contemporary accounts.
The political and military events of the mid-1060s are related in pictorial chronological narrative. The scenes on the tapestry’s main section appear between two narrower upper and lower borders depicting animal, possibly fabulous, and everyday rural scenes. At moments of tension in the main action, the central image overlaps the upper border in a technique that implies energy and movement, while the raised strands of wool create a light-and-shadow effect suggestive of a cartoon technique.
The tapestry on display in Bayeux today.
Little is known of the tapestry’s origins, but the details of its manufacture offer some clues. It is believed that a cleric skilled in Latin and with a knowledge of illumination techniques designed and oversaw production, ensuring the remarkable consistency of style throughout. The design may have been influenced by the mural cloths of northern Europe – the only other equivalents remaining are fragments from Scandinavia, where the Normans originated. Another possible influence was a similar narrative style used in Anglo-Saxon Bible manuscripts. The tapestry was probably sewn in the south of England. Furthermore there is distinct English influence in its colours and dyes, and in its etymology.
Odo, bishop of Bayeux and William’s half-brother, may have commissioned the work for the consecration of Bayeux Cathedral in 1077. The church was the foremost artistic patron in the medieval period, and appropriately for a clerical commission and creation, the tapestry is said to use religious allegory and imagery interwoven with historical record – in this case, the conquest of Judah by Babylon.
Inscribed 1997
What is it
A Cyrillic manuscript on calfskin parchment written in 1092 of the four Gospels of the New Testament and lectionary in codex or bound-book form.
Why was it inscribed
The Archangel Gospel presents valuable evidence of the state and development of religion, philosophy and culture in Europe and in European Russia at the end of the 11th century.
Where is it
Russian State Library, Moscow, Russia
The existence of the Archangel Gospel was unknown to the world until 1876 when it arrived in Moscow and was there sold by its owner, a farmer from the Archangel or Arkhangelsk region of northern Russia. Beyond these facts, little is known of its origins and provenance although it has been suggested that the book was a product of St George’s (Yuriev) Monastery at Novgorod to the south of Archangel.
The manuscript itself contains the four books of the Gospel together with a lectionary – a collected listing of the specific