Today is Good Friday and at DBBE, we commemorate the crucifixion of Christ with – what did you expect – a book epigram!
✒️ Ὢ φρικτὸν ἔργον, ὢ κατάπληκτος θέα·
Θεὸς δι᾽ ἡμᾶς ὡς βροτὸς πάσχει ξύλῳ.
📖 O dreadful deed! O amazing sight!
Because of us God suffers in the flesh on the cross.
🌐 https://www.dbbe.ugent.be/types/2781
📸 A. Rhoby, 2018, Ausgewählte Byzantinische Epigramme in Illuminierten Handschriften. Wien: 643
These verses are written around this stunning illumination in ms. Athos Batopediou 937, a 14th-century Gospel. At the beginning of this manuscript, you can find a series of beautiful miniatures, depicting several moments of Jesus’ life, some of which are accompanied by metrical captions.
