Ostromir Gospels

The close resemblance between this and the equivalent pages in the Mstislav Lectionary suggests they are both based on a common prototype, now lost.

[2] Like other medieval Russian manuscripts, the Ostromir Gospels is written in a peculiar local version of Church Slavonic.

[3] It is thought that the book was taken from one of Novgorod's monasteries to the personal collection of the Russian tsars in the Moscow Kremlin, where it was first registered in 1701.

Alexander Vostokov was the first to study it in depth, demonstrating that the Church Slavonic of the manuscript reflects the East Slavic linguistic background of the scribe.

In 1932, the gem-studded book-cover induced a plumber to break into a case, remove and steal the binding, and hide the parchments behind a bookcase.

The Ostromir Gospels, written in Church Slavonic with many spellings reflecting the East Slavic recension, is famous for its brilliant miniatures. The opening of the Gospel of Saint John , with his Evangelist portrait .
Ostromir Gospel