O reprezentare necunoscută a Sf. Ioan cel Nou în orfevrăria medievală moldovenească: ferecătura Tetraevanghelului fiilor lui Petru Rareș (1543)
Identifying Saint John the New on the silver binding of the Moldavian `543 Gospels manuscript

Summary/Abstract: The present study argues for a new identification of the saints represented on the back cover of a Moldavian Gospels manuscript dated 1543. Through the close re-examination of its silver decoration and by analysing the manuscript in the specific context of its production and functionality, I hypothetically identify one of the saints with Saint John the New from Suceava. The manuscript, discovered at Jerusalem by Marcu Beza, was firstly discussed by Nicolae Iorga, who also published a summary description of its silver decoration. Due to his scholarly authority and to the fact that the manuscript and its decoration were only marginally studied in Romanian historiography, Iorga’s initial identification of the saints remained unchallenged. Nonetheless, iconographic and palaeographic arguments, as well as the necessary reintegration of the donation in the devotional context of the epoch, strongly support the identification of one of the saints with Saint John the New, along with Saint George and Saint Demetrius. At that time, Saint John was the saint protector of Moldavia and of the ruling house. Thus, the silver decoration of the 1543 Gospels manuscripts confirms the cult of this martyr saint within the Petru Rareş princely family. Moreover, it also explains better the original significance of the donation, suggesting new insights into its initial beneficiary.

• Details
• Contents