Otho-Corpus Gospels - Surviving Fragments

Surviving Fragments

The extant fragments show that the manuscript was decorated in much the same style as other Insular Gospel Books. The incipit pages of the Gospels had large decorated initials, which dominated the page similar to those in the Lindifarne Gospels, the Book of Durrow, the Book of Kells and other Insular Gospel Books. For example, folio 28 recto in the British Library contains the remnant of the incipit page to the Gospel of Mark. All that is still legible is a portion of the word "Initium". (In the Vulgate, Mark begins "Initium evangelii Iesu Christi".) The letters "INI" are formed into a large monogram decorated with red and yellow knotwork. This page was so damaged and shrunk by the fire that the vellum has become translucent and the text on the verso side is visible on the recto side.

In many of the insular gospels, such as the Lindisfarne Gospels, and the Book of Kells, each Gospel has an Evangelist portrait before the Gospel. In many other insular gospels, such as the Book of Durrow and the Echternach Gospels the portrait is replaced by a full page miniature of the Evangelist's symbol. Folio 27 recto (see illustration at right) in the British Library, which is one of the best preserved pages of this manuscript, contains the image of the lion of Mark. This page bears a remarkable stylistic similarity to the corresponding page in the Echternach Gospels, (see here) and gives a hint as to the quality of the manuscript before the fire.