Narrow results:

Place

Time

Topic

Additional Subjects

Type of Item

Language

Institution

151 results
Album of Religious Artifacts from the Church Archaeological Museum of Kiev Theological Academy
This book, the first in a series of albums dedicated to the Church Archaeological Museum of Kiev Theological Academy, is about the collection of icons from Mount Sinai and Mount Athos assembled by Bishop Porfiry Uspensky (1804–85). Bishop Porfiry was born in Russia, studied at the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy, and was ordained as a priest in 1829. In 1842 he was sent by the synod of the Russian Orthodox Church to Jerusalem to strengthen relations with the Orthodox Christians of Syria and Palestine. In 1845–46 he made ...
Contributed by
National Parliamentary Library of Ukraine
Art of Ancient Rus’-Ukraine
This book is a short history of the art of Ancient Rus’, the medieval polity centered on Kiev, which flourished from the 9th to the 13th centuries, and which formed the basis for much of later Russian and Ukrainian culture. Topics covered include the influences of the Varangians and of Eastern Orthodoxy, the importance of Christianity, wooden architecture, churches and monasteries in Kiev, art and architecture in the historic city of Chernigov, and the arts of enamel and icon painting. Particular attention is paid to Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev ...
Contributed by
National Parliamentary Library of Ukraine
Psalter of Frederick II
This remarkable illuminated psalter decorated in the Byzantine style was commissioned by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II of Sicily (1194–1250) for his third wife, Isabella of England (1214–41). Frederick married Isabella in 1235. By design and execution, the manuscript illuminations combine the color palette of Byzantium with the stylistic rendering of the plasticity of the human body common to the Italian school of the period. Probably executed at the scriptorium in Acri, a hill town in Calabria, the manuscript is decorated with a full-page initial letter encompassing ...
Contributed by
Riccardiana Library of Florence
Book of the Passion of Saint Margaret the Virgin, with the Life of Saint Agnes, and Prayers to Jesus Christ and to the Virgin Mary
This volume is a compilation of three manuscripts produced in Bologna at the end of the 13th century. It begins with the Passion of Saint Margaret of Antioch, in Latin. This is followed by two texts in Italian, one describing the life and devotion of Saint Agnes and one containing prayers to the Virgin Mary. Each manuscript is written in a different hand; evidence suggests that the three parts were brought together and bound at the beginning of the 14th century. The only part of the book that is illustrated ...
Contributed by
Riccardiana Library of Florence
Apostle Lectionary
The Apostle Lectionary, written on parchment in the second half of the 13th century, is one of the important linguistic sources delimiting the early (Preslav) from the later (Athonite) redaction of this liturgical book. The lectionary contains the portions of scripture, the lessons, to be read at divine service on particular days of the church calendar. This manuscript is remarkable for the completeness of the readings from the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles, and for its detailed menologion, a monthly calendar indicating the feast days of saints that ...
Contributed by
National Library of Bulgaria
Dobreisho Gospel
This parchment manuscript, of which only a part has survived, is from the first quarter of the 13th century. The year 1221 was written on the manuscript at a significantly later date and may have been copied from an original colophon by a later owner. Known as the Dobreisho Gospel, the manuscript is an important witness to the history and early development of the Bulgarian language. Of particular interest is the rich illumination, including two full-page miniatures of the evangelists Luke and John. The portrait of the latter is accompanied ...
Contributed by
National Library of Bulgaria
Banitsa Gospel
The Banitsa Gospel, written on parchment in Church Slavonic in the late 13th century, is one of the manuscripts testifying to the end of the anonymity of Bulgarian men of letters at around this time. The colophon indicates that the scribe who made the manuscript was the priest Ioann at Saint Nicholas Church in the village of Banitsa (presumably in the Vratsa region of present-day northwestern Bulgaria). The characteristic script and the ornamental illumination, elaborated in black, red, and yellow ink, reflect a local manuscript tradition. The menologion (calendar) includes ...
Contributed by
National Library of Bulgaria
Menaion for June-August with Synaxarion
This parchment manuscript of the Menaion for June–August with synaxarion (a collection of brief biographies of the saints) can be dated to the second half of the 13th century. It is important as the earliest known manuscript to include the service of Saint Ioakim Osogovski (Joachim of Osogovo), hermit and founder of the monastery known as Sarandapor. His memory, celebrated on August 16, was popular in Bulgaria and elsewhere in the Balkans during the Middle Ages and in the period of the Bulgarian National Revival of the 18th and ...
Contributed by
National Library of Bulgaria
Chasoslovets
This chasoslovets (book of hours or horologion) is the first book printed by the first Bulgarian printer, Iakov (Jacob) Kraikov. It is a collection of prayers, eulogies, saints’ lives, and apocrypha that both served as a daily handbook for priests and was valued by lay readers in search of knowledge and enlightenment. Kraikov printed the book in Venice, at the largest Slavic Cyrillic printing-house for Serbs and Bulgarians in the city, which he acquired in 1566. The selection of font, typesetting, pagination, and the rich artful decoration (more than 30 ...
Contributed by
National Library of Bulgaria
Flemish Psalter
This Flemish Psalter from the library of the Irish College in Paris was made in Bruges (present-day Belgium) around 1500. The manuscript is written in Latin on vellum, and it has a 19th-century binding. Psalters are religious books, especially popular in the Middle Ages, containing the psalms (poems that are sung) from the Bible, often with other devotional texts. Richly decorated, the Psalter includes a fully illuminated page depicting the Tree of Jesse and a miniature of King David, the main author of the psalms. Twelve illuminations, each composed of ...
Contributed by
Irish College in Paris
Hours of Notre Dame
Books of hours are collections of prayers used for private devotion. They were the most common illuminated works of the Middle Ages. Heures de Notre-Dame (The book of hours of Notre Dame) was made in Bruges (present-day Belgium) around 1470. The manuscript, written in Latin and on vellum, is most likely the work of William Wyelant or his studio. Wyelant, also known by the Flemish spelling of his name, Willem Vrelant, was an influential illuminator who was active in Bruges from 1449 until his death in 1481. The leaves of ...
Contributed by
Irish College in Paris
Candomblé in Bahía (Brazil) Ritual Dance
This photograph from Brazil shows a group of women in traditional dress of African origin performing a ritual dance. The dance and dress are associated with Candomblé, a religion based on African traditions, with elements borrowed from Christianity, that is practiced chiefly in Brazil. The photograph is from the collection of the Columbus Memorial Library of the Organization of American States (OAS), which includes 45,000 photographs illustrative of life and culture in the Americas, many taken by prominent photographers on OAS missions to member countries. The OAS was established ...
Contributed by
Columbus Memorial Library, Organization of American States
Dance to Fertility Goddess
This photograph from Suriname shows a group of women performing a fertility dance. The photograph is from the collection of the Columbus Memorial Library of the Organization of American States (OAS), which includes 45,000 photographs illustrative of life and culture in the Americas. Many of the photographs were taken by prominent photographers on OAS missions to member countries. The OAS was established in April 1948 when 21 countries of the western hemisphere adopted the OAS Charter, in which they reaffirmed their commitment to the pursuit of common goals and ...
Contributed by
Columbus Memorial Library, Organization of American States
Devil Dancer
This photograph from Venezuela shows a masquerading dancer wearing a large grotesque mask with two huge horns tied together with tasseled rope and representing the devil. The Diablos Danzantes del Yare (Dancing Devils of Yare) is a religious festival celebrated in San Francisco de Yare in the state of Miranda on the feast of Corpus Christi. The photograph is from the collection of the Columbus Memorial Library of the Organization of American States (OAS), which includes 45,000 photographs illustrative of life and culture in the Americas. Many of the ...
Contributed by
Columbus Memorial Library, Organization of American States
Iberian or Georgian Alphabet with Prayers
Alphabetum ibericum, sive georgianum: cum Oratione (Iberian or Georgian alphabet with prayers) is one of the first two books printed in Georgian using moveable type. In the 1620s, the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, the body of the Roman Catholic Church established in the early 17th century for the purpose of spreading Catholicism in non-Catholic countries, began to train monks going to Georgia for missionary work. The monks were taught Georgian by Niceforo Irbachi Giorgiano, the ambassador of the Georgian king, Teimuraz I, in Rome. The sacred ...
Contributed by
Library of Congress
Church of the Resurrection, Interior, with Icon Screen, Matigory, Russia
This view of the icon screen of the Church of the Resurrection in the village of Verkhnie Matigory (Arkhangel'sk Oblast) was taken in 1999 by Dr. William Brumfield, American photographer and historian of Russian architecture, as part of the "Meeting of Frontiers" project at the Library of Congress. The Church of the Resurrection was built in 1686-94. Its five-tiered 18th-century icon screen (iconostasis) is one of the best preserved in the Russian north and contains a number of ancient icons. Although part of the second tier (Holy Festivals) is ...
Contributed by
Library of Congress
Church of the Epiphany (1787), Interior, View East with Icon Screen, Oshevensk, Russia
This interior east view of the log Church of the Epiphany at Oshevenskoe (Kargopol' District, Arkhangel'sk Oblast) was taken in 1998 by Dr. William Brumfield, American photographer and historian of Russian architecture, as part of the "Meeting of Frontiers" project at the Library of Congress. Oshevenskoe, located along the right bank of the Chur'iuga River, developed near the Dormition Monastery, which was founded by the monk Alexander Osheven in 1453. This large village consisted of three hamlets, each with its own name. The Church of the Epiphany, built ...
Contributed by
Library of Congress
Church of the Epiphany (1787), Interior, View East with Nebo ("Sky," or Painted Ceiling), Oshevensk, Russia
This interior view of the log Church of the Epiphany at Oshevenskoe (Kargopol' District, Arkhangel'sk Oblast) was taken in 1998 by Dr. William Brumfield, American photographer and historian of Russian architecture, as part of the "Meeting of Frontiers" project at the Library of Congress. Oshevenskoe extends along the right bank of the Chur'iuga River near the Dormition Monastery, founded by the monk Alexander Osheven in 1453. The interior of the Church of the Epiphany, built in 1787, has a remarkable four-tiered iconostasis and painted ceiling. This view includes ...
Contributed by
Library of Congress
Church of the Intercession (1743, 1761), Interior, View East with Upper Tier of Icon Screen and Nebo ("Sky," or Painted Ceiling), Liadiny, Russia
This interior view of the wooden Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God at the village of Liadiny (Kargopol’ District, Arkhangel'sk Oblast) was taken in 1998 by Dr. William Brumfield, American photographer and historian of Russian architecture, as part of the "Meeting of Frontiers" project at the Library of Congress. The main space of the Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God, built around 1762, contains a partially preserved, four-tiered iconostasis and a superb painted panel ceiling known as a nebo (sky). This view includes ...
Contributed by
Library of Congress
Church of the Presentation of the Virgin (1688-93), Interior, View East toward Icon Screen, Sol'vychegodsk, Russia
This interior view of the Cathedral of the Presentation of the Virgin in Sol'vychegodsk (Arkhangel'sk Oblast) was taken in 1996 by Dr. William Brumfield, American photographer and historian of Russian architecture, as part of the "Meeting of Frontiers" project at the Library of Congress. This spectacular church was built for the Presentation Monastery, founded in 1565 by the Stroganov family as part of their trading compound at Sol’vychegodsk. Construction began in 1688 with the support of Grigorii Stroganov, soon to become prominent in the reign of Peter ...
Contributed by
Library of Congress
Cathedral of the Annunciation (1560-84), Interior, View East toward Icon Screen (Late 17th Century), Sol'vychegodsk, Russia
This interior view of the Cathedral of the Annunciation at Sol'vychegodsk (Arkhangel'sk Oblast) was taken in 1999 by Dr. William Brumfield, American photographer and historian of Russian architecture, as part of the "Meeting of Frontiers" project at the Library of Congress. Located near the confluence of the Vychegda and Northern Dvina rivers, Sol’vychegodsk (Salt of the Vychegda) became, in the 16th century, the center of vast trading operations owned by the Stroganovs, whose wealth was based on salt. The patriarch of the dynasty, Anika (Ioannikii) Stroganov (1497-1570 ...
Contributed by
Library of Congress