960 years ago Deacon Gregory began work on rewriting the oldest Russian handwritten book - Ostromir Gospels, the pearl of medieval literature, which occupies a special place among the most important monuments of cultural heritage that make up the invaluable heritage of Russia.

The Ostromir Gospel is a famous Russian handwritten book, a cultural monument of world significance. Created in the 11th century, it occupies a very special place among the most important monuments of cultural heritage. The exceptional historical, cultural and scientific significance of the Ostromirov Gospel is determined by the fact that it is the oldest surviving, East Slavic, accurately dated handwritten book, standing at the origins of Russian writing and culture.

The Ostromir Gospel was created in the era of the heyday of the ancient Russian state, which followed the official adoption in 988 of Christianity as the state religion. It is with Christianization that the spread of Slavic writing in Russia is connected.

AT "Tales of Bygone Years" The most ancient Russian chronicle that has survived to this day tells how Prince Vladimir (about 960 - July 15, 1015) laid the foundation for book education: he himself loved " book words and began to teach literacy to children. According to the same source, in 1033 the son of Vladimir, Prince Yaroslav, nicknamed the Wise (c. 978-1054), organized the translation and correspondence of books, thereby founding in Kyiv the first library in Russia.

From the 11th century only about two dozen ancient Russian books have survived to this day, and in most cases in fragments, and the Ostromir Gospel has been preserved in its entirety.

The Ostromir Gospel is written on parchment in a charter - a type of writing Greek liturgical books, richly decorated, which is made with paints using gold, in the so-called old Byzantine style, characteristic of Byzantine manuscripts of the 10th-11th centuries.

In total, the Ostromir Gospel contains three miniatures of the evangelists, about twenty exquisite headpieces with ornaments of the traditional enamel type, more than 200 large initials, the ornamental pattern of which is never repeated.

A unique feature of the initials of the Ostromirov Gospel are unusual pictorial elements that testify to the artistic ties of the monument not only with the Byzantine, but also with the Western European tradition.

In the main part of the text, the book contains the gospel daily readings from Easter to Pentecost, as well as Saturday and Sunday readings for the following weeks of the year.

The second part of the book includes the gospel readings on the Monthly Book, starting in September, as well as a number of additional readings. for different occasions". On many sheets of the Ostromir Gospel there are instructions for the priest to read the text intoned - ekphonetic signs. Such signs are obligatory in the Greek Aprakos Gospels of the 8th-14th centuries, while in Slavic manuscripts they are extremely rare.

Since the signs of ecphonics are signs of the sound of the text in the temple, the Ostromir Gospel can be considered the beginning of the birth Russian sacred music.

This ancient book, which preserved the sacred Gospel text on its sheets, is code large in size, has a luxurious decoration and is intended for church liturgical use.

Before the start of the gospel readings, the book contains images of the evangelists. Three of them have survived: John with Prochorus, Luke and Mark, image Matthew lost.

In addition to miniatures, the manuscript is decorated with ornaments for various purposes: headpieces, text separators and many initials placed on sheets at the beginning of readings, large in size, much larger than usually found in Byzantine manuscripts.

All patterns of the Ostromir Gospel belong to the so-called "enamel" or "petal" type of ornament - elements of initials, as if segments of stems and flower petals, are combined in various combinations, have a thick dense coloring, similar to enamel.

Large masks are inscribed in completely unusual compositions of many capital letters, or, as they are called, "masks", all of them are very large in relation to the size of the letters, rounded, ruddy, outlandish in their ornamental composition.

In addition to the Byzantine "petal" ornament, there are some special motifs woven, like "masks", into these magnificent patterns. These are the heads monsters, similar to dogs, only always predatory and dangerous, and sometimes equipped with paws and wings or having the muzzle of an unknown creature, relating the reader to the theme of the Last Judgment and the torment of hell.

On the last page of the Ostromir Gospel is Afterword hand written Deacon Gregory who did most of the rewriting of the text. The high position of Ostromir's book customer, who was a representative of one of the most influential Russian families, is especially emphasized: his grandfather Dobrynya was the uncle of Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich.

In the Afterword, Deacon Gregory reports that he copied this Gospel during the reign of the Kyiv prince Izyaslav Yaroslavich(1024-1078, son of Yaroslav the Wise), commissioned by the eminent Novgorod posadnik Ostromir, in baptism Joseph and glorifies him and his wife Theophanes, prays to God to grant them and their children long life.

Of particular interest are the dates indicated by Deacon Gregory as the start and end of the work on rewriting the Gospel. October 21 is the day of memory of Hilarion the Great, this name is associated with the name of the Kievan Metropolitan Hilarion, an outstanding ecclesiastical and political figure of the middle of the 11th century, the first Rusich at the Kyiv metropolitan cathedra, orator, writer, author of the famous "Words of Law and Grace". Hilarion was a like-minded and associate of Yaroslav the Wise in the struggle for the independence of Russia from Byzantium, " husband is good, bookish and fasting”, as the chronicle says about him. Metropolitan Hilarion played an important role in the enlightenment of Russia, in the organization of book-writing at the Kiev Sophia Cathedral, and it is not by chance that Deacon Gregory begins his work on the feast day of the saint named after Hilarion.

The date of completion of work on the Ostromir Gospel, May 12, also evokes rich historical associations. May 11, 330 was celebrated in Byzantium as the day of the Renewal of Sophia of Constantinople, and 12 May were the first Christian churches in Russia were consecrated. On the same days, the memory of the Thessalonica brothers is celebrated Cyril and Methodius- Enlighteners of the Slavs, whose names are associated with the emergence of the Slavic alphabet.

The fate of the Ostromir Gospel, a witness to the entire historical development of the state, is known only in general terms. On the first page of the book there is a note in cursive XVII century: " Gospel of Sophia Aprakos”, which indicates that the manuscript belonged to some Sofia church. Perhaps for several centuries the Ostromir Gospel was kept in the St. Sophia Cathedral in Veliky Novgorod until it was taken to Moscow.

Documentary history of the manuscript can be traced only from the XVIII century. An inventory of the property of the Resurrection Church of the Moscow Kremlin, compiled in 1701, indicates that at that time the Ostromir Gospel was in this Moscow church. In 1720, the ancient book was sent to St. Petersburg, where traces of it are again lost. In 1805 the Ostromir Gospel was discovered Ya. A. Druzhinin, personal secretary of Catherine II, among the property of the late Empress, who always showed great interest in Russian history.

In 1806, Emperor Alexander I transferred the Ostromir Gospel to the Public Library, where the oldest Russian manuscript began to be kept permanently. It is noteworthy that the first ancient monument of Russian literature that has come down to our days is precisely the Gospel, which suggests that at the origins of Russian culture is Christian doctrine.

Ostromir Gospel Lesson of the elective course The Gospel is a Greek word, which means “good news” in translation. The Ostromir Gospel is one of the oldest manuscripts created in Russia. This book was copied in 1056-1057 by Deacon Gregory for the Novgorod posadnik (= princely governor) Ostromir, therefore it is called the Ostromir Gospel. The fate of the monument It is assumed that it was kept for several centuries in the St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod. Then the Ostromir Gospel was named in the inventory of the property of one of the churches of the Moscow Kremlin, compiled in 1701. In 1720, the Ostromir Gospel was sent from Moscow to the new capital of Russia - St. Petersburg. Study of the monument by A. Kh. Vostokov Cyril and Methodius. Miniature in the book Studying the language of the Ostromirov Gospel, the famous Russian scientist A. Kh. Vostokov was the first to express the opinion that the translation of the Gospel text in this monument dates back to the translation of the Slavic first teachers Cyril and Methodius. Further research has confirmed this. Alexander Khristoforovich Vostokov first published the Ostromir Gospel in 1843. Components of the Ostromir Gospel The opening page of the text of the Ostromir Gospel is surmounted by a large headband-frame filled with colorful ornaments. According to the ancient rule established back in Byzantium, the book opens with an image of the author; in the Ostromir Gospel, this is the Evangelist John with his disciple. Examples of capital letters "Vedi" and "Rtsy" are shown here. The artistic design of the Ostromirov Gospel testifies that in the production of ancient books, the main role belonged to knowledgeable and experienced scribes Tell us about the design features of ancient Russian books Let's read the text of the Lord's Prayer Try to translate what you read. Father (father) Lexical meaning and usage Morphological features Morphemic composition 1. One who has children Male, soulful, 2 cl. Father of the Father 2. Heavenly God Father Sing. Otch-e (ancient vocative form) Stylistic characteristic Church Father is the vocative form of the noun “father”, which is used when referring to God. In the ancient text, it is written under the title, in abbreviation. The word father was used as an honorary name for a clergyman. This word also denoted God the Father and could be used in the phrase "heavenly father", as in the prayer "Our Father" What words in modern Russian come from the word "father"? Historical alternations At the root of the word "otts" - "fathers" there was a reduced vowel "b", which was either in a weak or in a strong position. After the 11th century, the strong reduced "ь" changed to the vowel "e", and was lost in a weak position. So a fluent vowel appeared in the root: father - father. Also in this word there are historical alternations of consonants. The history of the language shows that the soft “h” and “ts” appeared as a result of the softening of the Proto-Slavic hard back-lingual *k (Proto-Slavic *otьkъ) Thus, in the Russian language there are historical alternations C / Ch (fatherland) k, *x changed into soft hissing zh', ch', sh' before front vowels. As a result of these changes, the alternations G / F, R / C, X / W arose. Think of words with these historical alternations. Debt - debt, book - book, hand - hand over, sin - sinner Bread Lexical meaning and use Morphological features Morphemic composition Stylistic. character 1. Food product baked Male, neodesh., from flour. Rye bread. White 2 cl., only bread sg. bread 2. A flour product in the form of a product of any particular shape. Putting bread in the oven and pl. (pl.) breads 3. Cereal cereal plants. Winter bread in the fields and pl. (pl.) bread-a 4. Livelihood. This work is his bread. Razg. 5. What is necessary for bodily and spiritual existence. Our daily bread Book. "Daily" In the prayer "Our Father" In the modern Russian language, the noun bread, the lexical meaning of the word used in "daily" is defined as the phrase "our bread" having important daily life. The word daily meaning was completely formed by the ancients necessary. scribes when translating This word is combined not only with the Gospel text with the word bread, but also with other Greek words in the words: urgent issue, Slavic. This word can pressing interests, pressing be interpreted as needs. "necessary for what are related words to existence" to the word "essential" can you pick up? “Existing” The words being, being, essence, essence are derived from the ancient forms of the verb “to be”, which was conjugated not only in the past tense, but also in the present, and also formed the present participle “Beings” What historical alternations did you see in these words ? Duty Lexical meaning and usage Morphological features 1. Duty to someone. Fulfill civic duty Male, inanimate, Debt 2 cl., only (offered) in debt-sing. On debt 2. Borrowed, mostly money. Borrow and many others. part 3. Sins. Leave us our debts Morphemic composition Stylistich. coloring Book. Church. What is the meaning of the word "debtor" in the text of the prayer? At the root of related words debt - debtor, there is an alternation of vowels G / F, which are explained by phonetic changes in the Proto-Slavic norm. Answer the questions: How is the name of the Ostromir Gospel explained? Who prepared the first edition of the Ostromir Gospel? What are the stylistic differences between the phrases "urgent needs" and "our daily bread"? What case form is used to express the address in modern Russian, in contrast to the ancient one? In what styles of the modern Russian language is it appropriate to use the word "existing"? Make sentences with this word. Explain the meaning of the expression "bread and salt" in Russian. What is the tradition of hospitality with which the origin of this expression is associated? Working with a dictionary Compare the lexical meanings and usage of the words “kingdom” and “kingdom”, note similarities and differences Determine the meaning and stylistic coloring of the word “this” in modern Russian Find out the meaning and use of the word “amen”. In what sense is it used in the text of the prayer?

On the last page of the Ostromir Gospel it is written (translated into modern Russian): “Glory to Thee, Lord King of Heaven, for deigning me to write this Gospel. I began to write it in the year 1056, and finished in the year 1057. I wrote it for the servant of God, named Joseph in baptism, and in the worldly Ostromir, who was a relative of Prince Izyaslav. Prince Izyaslav then owned both regions - his father Yaroslav and his brother Vladimir. Prince Izyaslav himself ruled the throne of his father Yaroslav in Kyiv, and he entrusted the throne of his brother to rule his relative Ostromir in Novgorod. Give, God, many years of life to him who gave the means for this gospel for the comfort of many Christian souls. Give him, Lord, the blessing of the holy Evangelists John, Matthew, Luke, Mark and the holy forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - to himself and his wife Feofana and their children and spouses. Live well for many years, managing what is entrusted to you. Amen.

I, Deacon Gregory, wrote this Gospel. The one who writes better than me - do not condemn me a sinner. He began to write on the 21st of October on the day of the memory of St. Hilarion, and finished on May 12, on the day of the memory of St. Epiphanes. I ask everyone who will read - do not judge, but correct and read. So the apostle Paul says: bless, and do not condemn. Amen".

This postscript, the Afterword, is a tribute to a long-standing, still Byzantine tradition: having finished their hard work, the scribes thanked God, sometimes praised the customer of the book, be sure to apologize to future readers for the mistakes made during correspondence, and asked them to correct. To this, Deacon Gregory added on his own behalf an indication of the social position of the customer of the book, briefly outlining the internal political situation at the time of its creation.

Information about the origin of the Ostromir Gospel, contained in this book itself, is confirmed by historical sources. The further fate of the monument is documented only from the beginning of the 18th century. The Ostromir Gospel is named in the inventory of the property of one of the churches of the Moscow Kremlin, compiled in 1701; the compiler of the inventory obviously understood the meaning of this book and noted the date of its creation. In the copy of the inventory taken in 1720, the Afterword of Deacon Gregory was added. This year, Emperor Peter I issued a decree that “in all monasteries ... and cathedrals, the old letters of commendation ... and historical handwritten books should be reviewed and rewritten ... and those census books should be sent to the senate.” And in the same year, the Ostromir Gospel was sent from Moscow to the new capital of the Russian Empire - St. Petersburg. Finding it among the property of Empress Catherine II should not be surprising: the Russian Empress showed interest in Russian history. Emperor Alexander I ordered the found Gospel to be transferred to the then Imperial Library - now the State Public Library named after M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin in Leningrad, where it is kept now (GPB, R. p. 1.5).

His scribe, the deacon, of course, was well aware of the rules for reading Biblical texts. The luxurious decoration of the Ostromirov Gospel and its excellent state of preservation testify to the fact that it was not intended for everyday use from the very beginning. If we keep in mind that this book was created by order of a rich and noble man, co-ruler of the Kyiv prince, who, of course, had ample opportunity to choose masters, then the figure of deacon Gregory becomes even more significant. Apparently, he served either in the princely or in the posadnik church, where festive services were celebrated especially solemnly. Perhaps he noted his prominent position among the “court” clergy, despite the low spiritual rank (a deacon is one of the lowest degrees of the Orthodox church hierarchy), he noted by the fact that in the Afterword he inscribed his name in the largest lowercase letters.

Analyzing the decoration of the Ostromirov Gospel, one should not forget for a moment the functional purpose of this book - its "sound" during the solemn reading "out loud". The Russian book from the very beginning of its existence should be considered as a synthesis of verbal and visual arts. This, as already mentioned, was accentuated in the manufacture of a "sounding" book - singing or intended for loud reading. Moreover, according to the Soviet art critic O. I. Podobedova, “the arrangement of identification marks for the reader brought to life, first of all, the ornamental decoration of the book.”

All elements of the decoration of the ancient handwritten book are present in the Ostromir Gospel even in expanded form, and this reinforces the belief that the earliest surviving dated Russian book is not the first book of Ancient Russia, it is the result and evidence of the rapid development of the art of the book.

The first page of the Ostromir Gospel is clean, without text or any decorations; there is only a mark on it in later cursive writing: "The Gospel of Sophia Aprakos." The first page of ancient handwritten books, which was in direct contact with the upper board of the binding, always wooden, rubbed against it, which would inevitably lead to the erasure of the colors of the text or ornament. Therefore, the first page of parchment books was always left blank, and sometimes glued to the top board of the binding. With the later binding of such books, paper, the so-called protective sheets, were sewn at the beginning and at the end of the block; while the first sheet was separated from the binding board. Traces of gluing the first sheet to the binding board also remained in the Ostromir Gospel. Judging by the above-mentioned mark on the first page, dated no earlier than the 16th century, which, naturally, could have appeared only after the first leaf was peeled off from the cover, the book lost its ancient binding at least four centuries ago.

The first page of the text of the Ostromirov Gospel is crowned with a large headband-frame, filled, like the miniatures, with colorful ornaments of the Byzantine style. The title of the first reading is inscribed in gold in it: "The Gospel of John, chapter 1." The text itself begins with a large, colorful with gold, capital letter - the initial H (modern I), with which the text of the Gospel reading on the first day of the Easter holiday began: (In the beginning there was a word).

The first screensaver of the Ostromir Gospel, made, like all other details of its decoration, with very dense, “heavy” colors, having such a relief that they seem to be laid on, shines through the parchment. Therefore, the text on the back of the sheet is written below its upper edge, at the distance occupied by this headpiece. The continuation of the text here by one of the readers was later marked with dense black paint - very carefully, over all the details of the letters. (Similar things occur in the future.) At the same time, bright red cinnabar and ekphonetic signs were renewed, but over some of them dashes - “coverings” remained not induced. This reflected the evolution of ekphonetic signs: by the time this text was written, some of them had undergone changes in their style and meaning.

The first reading of the Ostromirov Gospel ends in the second column of sheet 3, which is marked by special signs behind its last word. After that, in gold, like all the headings of the readings in the future, instructions for the second reading are written: the day when it is read - “On Monday, the holy (i.e. Easter - N. R.) week of the holy apostles”, “voice” - one of the eight canonical chants of the Orthodox Church, which on this day is supposed to be sung “Hallelujah” (praise to the Lord) before the start of the Gospel reading, and which verse from the Psalter is supposed to be said at the same time. The title ends with an indication of the source of the next reading - "From John, chapter 8."

According to this plan, the subsequent headings of the readings of the first part of the Ostromirov Gospel were compiled. The composition of the headings of the first part varies only slightly (in some of them it is not indicated, for example, "Hallelujah"). On the other hand, a truly amazing variance is characterized by the painting of the element of decoration of the Ostromirov Gospel following the title - his wonderful initials.

The art critic V.V. Stasov, the first to study this book, noted, as already mentioned, that they contain features that were not known in Byzantine books of previous centuries. V. N. Lazarev also writes about the “unusual” for Byzantine books of the initials of the oldest Russian book, about the “realistic” interpretation of their anthropomorphic and zoomorphic elements. A. N. Svirin notes the similarity of the manner of execution of the initials of the Ostromirov Gospel with the methods of monumental, fresco painting, as well as the presence of oriental elements.

The variety of methods of constructing and ornamenting the initials of the Ostromirov Gospel, paradoxical as it may seem, can be explained by the uniformity of the initials themselves. The vast majority of Gospel readings begin with the words: either (At that time) or (Said the Lord).

These identical beginnings are followed by a new text of different content, emotional sound and manner of presentation. And all these shades had to be conveyed by the performer. Deacon Gregory considered it necessary to note the diversity of the content and manner of presentation of the Gospel readings, first of all, by the variance of their initial letters, which strikes everyone who refers to this book. In it, 135 large initials B and 88 - P are drawn as the initial letters of readings, and the pattern is not repeated in any of them! In addition, the initials H (modern I) are found four times, P three times, one each B, C, K and some others.

If we assume that several artists worked on the initials of the Ostromir Gospel, and this is quite likely, then it seems that on these sheets they seem to compete with each other in ingenuity. And the one who loved to draw faces, after his colleagues depicted such a variety of animals, as if he also decided to draw something unusual for himself. So, on sheet 27, a beautiful, most likely female, face appears, drawn, like the heads of animals, in profile. Through four leaves, also at the top of the initial P, the same profile is drawn, but here an ornamental pattern is attached to the chin with white on a blue background, and the head of an old man is obtained (fol. 32v).

On the back of sheet 56 ends the first cycle of readings of the Ostromir Gospel - from Easter to the Trinity, consisting almost entirely of fragments of the Gospel of John. The next cycle begins with readings from Matthew, and a blank sheet is left in front of him, probably for the image of the Evangelist. Why the miniature remained unpainted is unknown; This is one of the unsolved mysteries.

The initial B on the back of sheet 66 should be especially noted: its lower part is formed by a green and red figure of a half-beast, half-bird. According to A.N. Svirin, this is the ancient Iranian deity Senmurv-paskudzh, whose images are known from objects of applied art and fabrics of the era of the Persian Sassanid dynasty (III-VII centuries). At the same time, it is noted that similar figures are also known from the monuments of Russian architecture - in the decorative reliefs of the cathedrals of Vladimir-Suzdal Russia - and it is suggested that Senmurva corresponds to the ancient Slavic deity Simarglu mentioned in Russian chronicles (71, p. 56). If this is so, then is it possible to assume that some of the other zoomorphic initials of the Ostromirov Gospel also reflect the images of ancient Russian pagan deities, which we see, for example, in the teratological ornament of Russian books of the XIV-XV centuries? And perhaps the initials of the oldest Russian book reflected that dual faith - a mixture of paganism with Christianity, which is currently attracting close attention of scientists? In the ornamentation of the book, created in the first century of Christianity in Russia, the influence of this dual faith should be stronger than in the decoration of books of subsequent centuries.

With all the variety of graphics and colors of the initials of the Ostromirov Gospel, one can feel the unity of the art school in them, which cannot be said about the miniatures of this book. Two of them, sewn in, were most likely ordered "on the side", and the artists obviously did not work together with the scribe and the "gold painter". As for the painting of the initials, the latter exactly fit into the text, and it is impossible even to admit that they were made later than the time when the text of the Ostromir Gospel was written. It seems that the ornamenters, as well as the "gold-painter", sat next to the book-writer, who, having finished writing the next reading, gave way first to the "gold-painter", and then to the ornament-makers. However, one more assumption seems possible: could the scribe himself, if not paint, then at least “mark”, that is, designate, the contours of the initials. N. M. Kariyskiy, who identified the scribe of the first twenty-four leaves of the Ostromir Gospel with the “gold writer”, admits the possibility of his participation in the ornamentation of the initials.

The study of the Ostromir Gospel is carried out today in several directions. This is, first of all, a continuation of its traditional study as a monument of the Old Slavic language. The art history study of the Ostromirov Gospel, begun by VV Stasov, needs to be continued. Particular attention should be paid to this book as a monument of both verbal and musical art. And of course, the clarification of the place of the Ostromirov Gospel in the history of the Russian book requires its further study of bibliology.

What a study of the fate of Deacon Gregory's Postscript alone can give for the history of the Russian book can be seen from the following. As already mentioned at the beginning of this article, the tradition of afterwords of scribes goes back to the Byzantine book. The oldest of such surviving Russian additions was made 10 years before the Ostromirov Gospel. Deacon Gregory introduced a new element into this tradition, a historical one, which was developed in the subsequent history of the Russian book. Russian scribes of subsequent centuries often made additions to the books they produced. At the same time, many of them, like Gregory, were not limited to traditional and obligatory elements, but in their postscripts they also noted events that worried them, sometimes cited literary monuments, and not only books of Holy Scripture. It suffices to give just one example - the famous postscript to the Apostle of 1307, in which an unknown scribe, noting the evil that princely civil strife brought to the people, quotes a wonderful monument of Russian literature of the late 12th century "The Tale of Igor's Campaign". A quotation from another masterpiece, “Words on Law and Grace” (XI century), is given in the so-called List of the Gospel of 1339, written by order of the “collector of the Russian land” after long princely civil strife and foreign yoke - Moscow Prince Ivan Kalita. Thus, researchers have at their disposal documentary evidence of the establishment of the tradition of the Afterword of the Ostromirov Gospel on Moscow soil. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the famous Afterword to the first Russian printed book - the Apostle of 1564, published by Ivan Fedorov - so clearly echoes a similar part of the oldest Russian dated handwritten book.

Finally, when studying the Ostromirov Gospel, it is worth paying attention to what directly and directly relates in it to the deacon Gregory himself. This man, undoubtedly, was not only the main executor of Ostromir's order: he wholeheartedly devoted himself to the creation of this book and managed to select and unite like-minded masters around him in order to jointly create a genuine masterpiece - an outstanding monument of ancient Slavic writing and book art of Ancient Russia.

(Rozov N. N. Ostromir Gospel Aprakos 1056-1057 - the oldest monument of Slavic writing and book art of Ancient Russia / / Ostromir Gospel 1056 - 1057. L .; M., 1988.)

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The Ostromir Gospel (RNB. F.p.I.5) is one of the oldest monuments of Church Slavonic literature and the oldest monument of the Russian edition. Written in 1056-57. for the Novgorod posadnik Ostromir (in the baptism of Joseph) by deacon Gregory. OE is a well-preserved parchment manuscript of beautiful writing on 294 sheets, of which three contain picturesque images of the evangelists John, Luke and Mark, and two remained unwritten.

OE - Aprakos (weekly); gospel readings are arranged in it by week, starting with Easter. The first news in the press about the OE appeared in the journal "Lyceum" (1806, part 2). Since 1814, the OE began to study the East. Before the publication of the OE, the sources for the study of the Church Slavonic language were the Klotz collection published by Kopitar and the Freisingen articles. In the famous Discourse on the Slavic Language, published in 1820, Vostokov was the first to draw on the philological data of the Ostromir Gospel for study and, guided by it, clarified the meaning of yus in the Old Church Slavonic language.

The original OE was most likely of Yugoslav origin. The Russian scribe treated his work with remarkable accuracy; this explains the great consistency of the spelling of the monument, which Gregory tried to preserve; in OE, the influence of the Russian dialect is hardly noticeable. The miniatures depicting the apostles most likely belong to the hand of a visiting Greek. The artist adopted and introduced into his images the technique of the so-called inlaid enamel, which was then in exclusive use in Byzantium; perhaps these miniatures are only copies of Byzantine miniatures. The copyist (and not the artist) owns the execution of a number of headpieces and numerous capital letters.

For the first time, on behalf of the Academy of Sciences, the OE was published by Vostokov (“The Ostromir Gospel, with the Greek text of the gospels and grammatical explanations”, St. Petersburg, 1843). Ganka edition (Prague, 1853) scientifically unsatisfactory. There are two facsimile editions by I. Savinkov (“The Ostromir Gospel, stored in the Imperial Public Library”, 1st ed., St. Petersburg, 1883; 2nd ed., St. Petersburg, 1889). The following wrote about the OE language: Vostokov (published in 1843; reprinted in the book “Philological Observations” by Vostokov, St. Petersburg, 1865); L. I. Sreznevsky, “Ancient Slavic monuments of the new writing” (St. Petersburg, 1868); M. M. Kozlovsky, “Study on the Language of the Ostromir Gospel” (in “Studies in the Russian Language”, ed. of the Academy of Sciences, vol. I, St. Petersburg, 1895, and separately, St. Petersburg, 1886); A. A. Shakhmatov and V. N. Shchepkin (additions on the OE language to Leskin’s “Grammar of the Old Slavonic language”, translated from German, M., 1890). About the “Miniatures of the Ostromir Gospel” see Art. K. Hertz in the Chronicles of Russian Literature, 1860, vol. III.

Full description of the manuscript

Editions

1. Ostromir Gospel of 1056 - 57: With the addition of the Greek text and grammatical explanation, published A. Kh. Vostokov. SPb., 1843. [RGB
2. Ganka V.. Prague, 1853, XXX, 208 p.
3. Ostromir Gospel of 1056-1057, stored in the Imp. public library. St. Petersburg: Izhd. Savinkov, photolithographer. Ed. M., 1883. Ed. 2nd. SPb., 1889.
4. . Fax playback. L.; M., 1988
5. Ostromiri Gospel // Corpus of Old Slavic Texts from the XIth Century.
6. Aprakos Gospel short “Ostromir Gospel”, 1056-1057(RNB, F.p.1.5.), 294 l. [query database “Manuscript” | hip]
7. Initial letters and headpieces from the Ostromirov Gospel [www.ruspismo.net]

Literature

1. Karamzin N. M. History of Russian Goverment. SPb., 1818. T. 2. Note. 114. pp. 66–67 (second pagination). [according to ed. 1852]
2. K. F. Kalaidovich. Moscow, 1824, pp. 28–29, 109–110.
3. Miklosich Fr. Ostromir's Evangelium / Hrsg. Von A. Vostokov // Jahrucher der Literatur. Vienna, 1847. No. 19. S. 1 - 39 (Review).
4. Vostokov A.Kh. Grammar rules of the Slavic language, extracted from the Ostromirov Gospel // Uchenye zapiski of the 2nd Branch of the Academy of Sciences. SPb., 1856. Book. 2. Issue. 1. S. 28–76.
   see also: Vostokov A. Kh. .
5. Buslaev F.I. On the influence of Christianity on the Slavic language. Experience in the history of language according to the Ostromirov Gospel. M., 1848. mirror
6. Bychkov A.F. Ostromir Gospel // St. Petersburg Vedomosti. 1859. No. 9.
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80. Zhukovskaya L.P.

The Ostromir Gospel is a manuscript of the middle of the 11th century, a monument of the Old Church Slavonic language. For a long time, until the discovery of the Novgorod Code in 2000, it was considered the oldest book created in Russia.

The Ostromir Gospel was the altar Gospel of the Novgorod Sophia Cathedral, it was solemnly carried out during processions, raised and shown to the people at certain moments of the liturgy. According to some information, the Ostromir Gospel was commissioned as a copy of the altar Gospel of Kyiv Sophia. It is decorated with floral ornaments typical for Byzantine manuscripts in headpieces, large initials with motifs very rare for Byzantine manuscripts, as well as three portraits of the evangelists - John (ill. 58), Luke (ill. 59) and Mark. For some reason, the image of Matthew was not executed, and the sheet intended for him remained free.

The manuscript is written in large statutory handwriting in two columns of 18 lines on an area of ​​about 20x24 cm. The book consists of 294 sheets of parchment.

The book was bound in a jewel case, but the case was lost (torn out) in 1932. The gospel was not rebound.

Information about the origin of the book is contained in the traditional entry on the last page. The author of the Ostromir Gospel, deacon Gregory, began writing it in the autumn of 1056 and finished it in May 1057. Gregory and reported in his afterword about the name of the customer of the manuscript.

The customer was the Novgorod posadnik Ostromir, who was close to the Kyiv prince Izyaslav, son of Yaroslav the Wise. But even if the customer would remain unknown, it is clear that a book of such volume and quality could only be ordered to a scribe by a very wealthy person.

The Ostromir Gospel refers to the Aprakos Gospels, where the texts are arranged according to weekly and daily readings, starting from Easter, in accordance with the order of church services. The Aprakos type of Holy Scripture was characteristic of the literary and linguistic environment of Byzantium, from which it was borrowed by ancient Russian scribes.

Actually, the Byzantine influence is visible in everything: the general appearance of the sheets of the Ostromirov Gospel, with a two-column text, spacious margins framing it and numerous patterns, has a Byzantine character, typical of Greek manuscripts of the 11th century.

Images of the evangelists John, Luke and Mark are a widespread Byzantine tradition, as is the technique of miniatures - inlaid enamel, which was used at that time only in Byzantium.

The style of the miniatures depicting the evangelists in the Ostromir Gospel is textbook Byzantine, not one iota different from the canon. There is a version that a Greek artist worked on the miniatures.

In the manuscripts of the entire Christian Middle Ages, including Byzantine and Russian, the moment of condescension from heaven of Divine grace, which inspired the compiler of the text, was often depicted. Particularly famous in this regard are the miniatures in the Western European manuscripts of the Carolingian circle, VIII-IX centuries, where fantastic creatures - the personifications of the evangelists unfold texts brought from heaven above the sitting authors.

The compositions in the Ostromir Gospel in their assertiveness and clarity of depiction of Divine inspiration resemble Carolingian miniatures, although they do not copy them in detail. Perhaps such an iconographic variant once existed in Byzantine art, but has come down to us only in the form of a Slavic echo in the Ostromir Gospel. Animal symbols (John's eagle, Luke's calf, Mark's lion) hold scrolls with texts, lowering them from heaven, and the evangelists, reverently raising their hands to them, seek to accept the precious gift. The squat proportions of the figures, the enlarged hands, the expression of boundless devotion on the faces, the feeling of the great significance of the event - all this makes the miniatures of the Ostromirov Gospel related to the monumental paintings of St. Sophia of Kyiv, and most of all - with the figures of the apostles from the mosaic "Eucharist" in the apse. This overlap of images is explained not only by the stylistic homogeneity of the monuments, but also by the overlap of situations: both here and there, the apostles and evangelists partake of divine truth and receive grace.

Evangelist Luke. Miniature of the Ostromir Gospel. 1056-1057.

For the newly baptized Slavic environment, it was very important not only to visually depict the event, but also to explain it. That is why on one of the miniatures - with Luke - right against the background it is inscribed in large letters: "In this way the Holy Spirit appeared to Luke as a calf."

Evangelist John with Prochorus. Miniature of the Ostromir Gospel. 1056-1057.

The miniatures are made by two artists. The first of them, who wrote a composition with John the Theologian, worked in a "grand style", he could well paint icons and participate in the painting of the temples of Yaroslav the Wise. His figures are monumental; they, if not statuary, then occupy a certain place in space. Draperies of clothes are tangible and embossed, and the only well-preserved face - young Prokhor - is round, ruddy and big-eyed. It resembles faces from the Sofia frescoes.

The other two miniatures are executed in an inimitable style, one of a kind. The master of these miniatures imitated cloisonne enamel: its thin golden contours, planar silhouette images, even areas of saturated colors, intense pink carnation and bright inlaid eyes with black pupils on white enamel. From the 11th century neither in Byzantium, nor even in Russia, such large enamel plates and such monumental, majestic images have been preserved. The second master of miniatures of the Ostromirov Gospel was a virtuoso who created a unique paraphrase of the works of "small forms" in painting.

Headlines at the beginning of the text and individual chapters are traditional for the manuscripts of that time, as books were written both in Byzantium and in the scriptoria of Western Europe. However, the decorative elements are large, much larger than is usually found in Byzantine manuscripts.

The main motif of ornaments is “petal”, segments of stems and flower petals, combined in various combinations, are also traditional for Byzantium. But the initials of the book and ornaments appear motifs that are completely alien to Byzantine art.

Large masks, or “masks”, are inscribed in the composition of many capital letters. All of them are very large in relation to the size of the letters, rounded, full-bodied, ruddy, rather female.

The masks have a sharply defined characteristic and sharpness of views, and the representation of such masks is completely uncharacteristic of Byzantine and Greek manuscripts.

There are no such large and carefully executed masks in Latin illuminated manuscripts.

Animal motifs in ornaments look more familiar - monsters, or rather their heads, similar to dogs, crocodiles, or fictional creatures. Byzantine tradition such monsters, disturbing and dangerous, are completely alien, they were diligently avoided.

On the other hand, Latin manuscripts are “teeming” with monsters; such images are familiar to European art. The similarity of these motifs, as well as the Slavic "braid" with Celtic ornaments, is striking.

It is difficult to say where such a coincidence of the motives of applied art among people living in different parts of Europe comes from. It can be said for sure that such elements are alien to Byzantine decor, and their combination in one book is extremely unusual.

The Ostromir Gospel was written less than 70 years after the adoption of Christianity and the appearance of Slavic writing in Russia. The perfection of the artistic design of the manuscript indicates that ornamental and applied arts were very well developed in the pagan era, and they represented an original Slavic style that had much more in common with Western Europe than with Byzantium.

But not a single motif depicted in miniatures The Ostromir Gospel is not a product of Russian soil; all of them, or almost all, find an analogy in the art of Byzantium. However, the miniatures of the Novgorod manuscript differ from contemporary Byzantine works not only in the choice of a rare iconographic variant, lush ornamental frames, especially in the composition with John, a casual drawing of a lion, as if walking over this miniature, not only in a unique experience of imitation of cloisonné enamel, but also in a special combination of monumental seriousness with ingenuous spontaneity, which was affected by the influence of the local, Russian cultural environment, which absorbed the norms of Christian art and responded to them in its own way.