Hval Manuscript

Hval Manuscript
Hval's Miscellany
Hvalov zbornik

A manuscript from the Hval Manuscript, from medieval Bosnia.
Created 1404
Location University Library in Bologna, Italy
Author(s) Hval Krstjanin
Purpose Bosnian Church codex

Hval's Codex (Serbo-Croatian: Hvalov zbornik) or Hval's manuscript (Hvalov rukopis) is a Cyrillic manuscript of 353 pages written in 1404, in Split, for Duke Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić.[1] It was illuminated by Gothic artists from the Dalmatian littoral.[1]

It was written in 1404 by Hval, a Bosnian Bogomil (krstjanin), in Bosnian Cyrillic (bosančica) in Ikavian accent with a Glagolitic introduction and is decorated with miniatures and other artistic elements. The codex contains parts of the Bible, hymns and short theological texts, and it was copied from an original Glagolitic text, also evident from Glagolitic letters found on two places in the book.

A miniature from the Hval Manuscript

The codex is one of the most famous manuscripts belonging to the Bosnian Church in which there are some iconographic elements which are not in concordance with the supposed theological doctrine of Christians (Annunciation, Crucifixion and Ascension). All the important Bosnian Church books (Nikoljsko evandjelje, Sreckovicevo evandelje, the Manuscript of Hval, the Manuscript of Krstyanin Radosav) are based on Glagolitic Church books.

New analyses of style and painting techniques show that they were inscribed by at least two miniaturists. One painter was painting on the blue background, and the other was painting on the gold background in which the miniatures are situated in a rich architectonic frame.

The Hval Manuscript is kept in the University Library in Bologna, Italy.

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 Đuro Basler (1 December 1987). The Art treasures of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Svjetlost. Two manuscripts are of exceptional value: Hval's Codex and the Hrvoje Missal. Both were written in Split for Hrvoje Vukcic Hrvatinic, Duke of Donji Krajevi and Split. Hval's Codex is a Cyrillic manuscript of 353 parchment pages written in 1404 ... Gothic artists from Primorje

See also

References