Greek Physiologus and its illustration: some considerations about a new illustrated witness (Dujcev, gr. 297).

Discusses the Greek versions of the Physiologus and their illustrations.

The only Physiologus illustrated in Byzantium, and belonging to the first version, disappeared during a fire in 1922, during the Greek-Turkish conflict which took place after the First World War. It was a volume kept in the library of the Evangelical School of Smyrna [Evangelical School of Smyrna, B. 8]. Fortunately, there are still photos of a large part of his miniatures. ... This manuscript is Important because it is the only one which, in the Greek world , has provided an illustration that is not only narrative but also interpretive. The second illustrated manuscript of the Physiologus of this same version is kept in Milan (Biblioteca Ambrosiana, E 16 sup. f. 1-39). Its illustration reflects, with the stylized ink drawings inserted in the text, the conception of Lombard art of the 11th century. However, even if this witness was not made in Byzantium, its iconography is linked to Byzantine traditions. - [Author]

Language: French