Ostromir Gospel

Tetraevangelion

Tetraevangelion. Before 1542

F (283 x 190). 363 +IV leaves.
Paper. Ink, cinnabar, colours, gold.

It is written in a semi-uncial hand.

The manuscript contains head-pieces and initials in the New Byzantine style in colours with use of gold (fols. 8r, 98r, 157r, 260r, 338r). Headings are written in cinnabar with use of ligatures. There are small initials and a table of readings in the margins, executed in cinnabar. Between blank folio IV and folio 8r is a protective silk curtain.

The donation inscription stating that Princess Anna, the widow of Prince Ivan Kubensky, presented the book to the St Nil Sorsky's Cloister. In 1541 Prince Ivan Kubensky was put into prison for his participation in the plot, but released in fife months. It is evident that in 1542 Princess Anna made the donation to thank God for the lucky release of her husband from prison. In 1546 Ivan Kubensky was executed, falsely charged with organized rebellion of 1545 in Novgorod. After his death Princess Anna became a nun at the Goritsy Convent of the Resurrection on the Sheksna River. It was a place of exile for noble Russian women, located 20km from the celebrated Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery.

In 1918 the manuscript came into the State Public Library along with the other materials from the library of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery.

Shelfmark: ÐÍÁ. Êèð.-Áåë. 64/69.

© The National Library of Russia, 2007