Codex Vaticanus B (middle of the 4th Century):This codex, in textual criticism known as “Codex B”, is one of the few antique codices which have conserved the Greek text of the Bible almost completely. We do not know with absolute certainty when this manuscript came to the Vatican Library; perhaps it was already there by the time of Pope Nicholas V, for it first appears in the 1481 inventory of the library. In 1586, it was the basis of the old Testament, or the so-called Bibbia greca Sistina, which was edited under patronage of Pope Sixtus V by a group of famous scholars. The codex reappeared under Pius X in an ambitious edition begun under Leo XIII. Finally a new edition of the second part, the New Testament, was published under Paul VI.
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Codex Purpreus (6th Century): These fragments are part of the
Codex Purpreus (6th Century): These fragments are part of the
precious relics which survived the disastrous ruin of the res libraria of antiquity.
The manuscript is written on extremely fine parchment and owes its name to the delicate purple tint of the sheets. It was probably written in Syria in a monumental Biblical majuscule (capital letters) script. The letters are in silver, except for incipit nomina sacra and rubics which are in gold. Other fragments of this superb Bible codex are kept in Athens, Leningrad and London.
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Sacramentary Gelasianum (about 750): This famous codex is extraordinary important, not only in the history of Western liturgy, but also for its medieval illumination. The text written in an uncial elegant for its time, with some paragraphs in Carolingian minuscule, record ancient liturgical rules of the Roman church as well as some additions of the 5th and 6th centuries and later Gallic documents. Originally, the codex consisted of 263 folios. The first two folios, however were lost very early; the 16 last folios are kept in Paris. The Sacramentary was written and illuminated in Northern France, presumably in the Abbey of Chelles, near Paris. It is divi
ded into three parts, each book presenting an endpaper and a richly ornamented frontispiece. The codex is a typical example of the Merovingian illumination which had developed in France. It is characterized by an association of clearly built and arranged letters with ingeniously stylized elements of people, plants and animals.
The initials are especial proof of the unfolding creative imagination of the illuminator. They are either done in an architectural fashion or adorned by a monumental cross reminiscent of intarsia and precious jewels. The earthen colours-brownish orange, green, grey-blue-and the parchment ground in optically empty circles confer rhythm and vivacity to the impressive pages of the Sacramentary Gelasianum.
ded into three parts, each book presenting an endpaper and a richly ornamented frontispiece. The codex is a typical example of the Merovingian illumination which had developed in France. It is characterized by an association of clearly built and arranged letters with ingeniously stylized elements of people, plants and animals.The initials are especial proof of the unfolding creative imagination of the illuminator. They are either done in an architectural fashion or adorned by a monumental cross reminiscent of intarsia and precious jewels. The earthen colours-brownish orange, green, grey-blue-and the parchment ground in optically empty circles confer rhythm and vivacity to the impressive pages of the Sacramentary Gelasianum.
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The book where I gleaned this information from was also from the State Library. The images are similar to the images in the books or as close as I could get to them to the original image.
The Vatican Library-Its history and treasures/edited under the patronage of his eminence Alfons Maria Cardinal Stickler, librarian and archivist of the Holy Roman Church and of the Prefect of the Vatican Library, Father Leonard Eugene Boyle, O.P. 1985 Belser Inc.
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