Miroslav's Gospel

The manuscript was commissioned by Prince Miroslav of Hum, the brother of the Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja. It was probably intended for Miroslav's endowment, the episcopal church of St. Peter and Paul in Bijelo Polje on Lim. Composed in the Old Slavonic language, with a Serbian edition. It was written by Gligorija the Scribe. The Gospel is written on parchment and has a leather binding that is not original but originates from another manuscript from the 14th century. The book contains almost 300 miniatures drawn with a pen, followed by brush painting and decorated with gold. The book decoration system is based on Western and Byzantine traditions. The Byzantine way of composing a codex page is also present in Middle-Italian Romanesque manuscripts. The Romanesque style of most of the miniatures originates from central Italy, where, in Roman and Tuscan scriptories where a book illumination was maintained as a combination of Romanesque and Byzantine art.