The Vienna Genesis (Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, cod. theol. gr. 31), designated by siglum L (Ralphs), is an illuminated manuscript, probably produced in Syria in the first half of the 6th century. It is one of the oldest well-preserved, surviving, illustrated biblical codices; only the Garima Gospels of Ethiopia, dating to the 5th and 6th centuries, are as old or older.
The surviving text is part of the Book of Genesis in the Greek Septuagint translation. The text is frequently abbreviated. There are twenty-four surviving folios each with miniatures at the bottom of both sides. It is thought that there were originally about ninety-six folios and 192 illustrations. It is written in uncials with silver ink on calfskin vellum (on page 36 of "The Vienna Genesis. Material analysis and conservation of a late antique illuminated manuscript on purple parchment" states "The parchment of Late Antique manuscripts, which date from the 4th–7th century, is made from sheepskin" despite the fact it is called vellum. Its being called vellum is misleading as it would have been lambskin not calfskin, to which vellum specifically applies) dyed a rich purple, placing it very firmly in the category of luxury manuscripts. This shade of purple dye was also used to dye imperial cloth.
The Vienna Genesis relates to the Rossano Gospels and the Sinope Gospels, from roughly the same period.[1]
- ^ Robert Milburn, Robert Leslie Pollington Milburn, Early Christian art and architecture, University of California Press, 1988, s. 301.