MINIATURE PENTECOST - Lot 18

MINIATURE PENTECOST Miniature on vellum. Constantinople, 17th century. Page dimensions : 11.2 x 8.3 cm. Dimensions of miniature: 9 x 6.5 cm. The Virgin Mary, surrounded by the apostles, is rarely depicted during the descent of the Holy Spirit, partly because she is not mentioned in the text concerning the event (the Acts of the Apostles) and partly because theologians consider that she has already fully received the Holy Spirit at the Annunciation. In the lower register, the representation of an old king, sometimes referred to as the prophet Joel, symbolizes humanity emerging from nothingness and ignorance through the teaching of the apostles. He holds a veil symbolizing the apostles' teaching, the gospel law replacing the law of Moses. The black background beneath the apostles' feet is a visual contrast to the golden sky from which the Holy Spirit descends. Particularly close parallels to our pages can be found in several Gospels, including the one preserved at the University of Bologna (ms. 3290), the one in the private collection of David and Jemima Jeselsohn (ms. JM22) and the one in the Matenadaran collection illuminated by Calouste Dpir in 1671 (ms. 10663). On April 2, 2014, Heritage Auction in New York sold an incomplete gospel with 6 miniatures undoubtedly by the same hand as ours (lot 36451). It is possible that our miniatures come from this manuscript.