Saint Mark

A portrait of Saint Mark heralds the opening of his Gospel. The anonymous illuminator portrayed the evangelist as a scribe dipping his quill into a pot of ink as he sits before a lectern. The words from Mark's Gospel inscribed on the book's page refer to Saint John the Baptist: Vox clamantis in deserto parate viam d[omi]ni (A voice of one crying in the desert: prepare the way of the Lord). At the top of the page, the heading in gold and silver leaf identifies the following text as Mark's Gospel:Iniciu(m) s(an)c(t)i evangelii s(e)c(un)d(u)m Marcu(m) [The beginning of the holy Gospel according to Mark].