Rossano Gospels

The Rossano Gospels, designated by 042 or Σ (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 18 (Soden), held at the cathedral of Rossano in Italy, is a 6th-century illuminated manuscript Gospel Book written following the reconquest of the Italian peninsula by the Byzantine Empire. Also known as Codex purpureus Rossanensis due to the reddish-purple (purpureus in Latin) appearance of its pages, the codex is one of the oldest surviving illuminated manuscripts of the New Testament. The manuscript is famous for its prefatory cycle of miniatures of subjects from the Life of Christ, arranged in two tiers on the page, sometimes with small Old Testament prophet portraits below, prefiguring and pointing up to events described in the New Testament scene above.

The manuscript has been dated by the Institute for New Testament Textual Research (INTF) to the 6th century.

Discovered in 1846 in Rossano Cathedral, the Rossano Gospels is the oldest extant illuminated manuscript of the New Testament Gospels. The exact time and place of its creation are still uncertain.

The manuscript is dated by the INTF to the sixth century. The Gospels were written after the Ostrogoths of the Byzantine Empire recaptured the Italian peninsula after the war (from 535 to 553).

The codex was discovered in 1879 in the sacristy of Rossano Cathedral by Oskar von Gebhardt and Adolf Harnack.

On 9 October 2015 in Abu Dhabi, UNESCO inscribed the Codex Purpureus Rossanensis in its Memory of the World international register.

Although it is no longer used in Christian ceremonies, this particular Gospels are important for dissecting art and symbolism, and researching the pages sheds light on early Christian beliefs.

Presenting nearly all of its miniatures in an architecture-like setting, the Rossano Gospels is one of the few illuminated manuscripts that perfectly fits with its definitions. It helps the reader take a spiritual insight into history, politics, religion, and people, and using bright colors on purple vellum with gold and silver lettering, and brightly-painted illustrations. Due to the lavish materials and high quality of the illumination, Byzantine art historians, such as Kathleen Maxwell, have posited that it was created in an imperial scriptorium in Constantinople.