Leaf from a Gospel Book

From the Getty Museum record

One of the earliest objects in the Getty collection is this early 12th century leaf from a Christian book containing the four Gospels of the New Testament. The text, inscribed upon the parchment in tempera colors and written in red ink in flourished initials starts with the word "initium", which means "beginning", acting as the introduction to the Gospel of John. The complex knotwork as well as the elaborate sectioned and delicately tinted initials were characteristic of manuscript production in central Italy in the era.