5.19 Homilies of St John Chrysostom
1335
Vatopedi Cod. 327
Parchment, 37.5 x 26.5 cm, ff. 467
The text includes Homilies of St John Chrysostom on the Epistles of the Apostle Paul, and is prefixed by a table of contents (fols. 1-3) and a brief summary of each homily in red-gold lettering. The whole text is very neatly written in two columns of twenty-eight lines each. The binding is leather and more recent.
This massive and sumptuous codex, a gift to the monastery from the Emperor John Cantacuzenos, has no miniatures but is beautifully illuminated with headpieces and colourful initials clearly executed by an accomplished artist. The large headpieces, placed to the left of the text, are elongated Π's supported on simple or twisted columns. The Π's are predominantly coloured deep blue, with floral and foliate motifs. The style of painting is similar to that in Vatopedi Cod. 328, which also contains Homilies of St John Chrysostom. The manuscript is precisely dated to 1335 and was written by the monk Joasaph, a scribe at the Hodegon Monastery in Constantinople.
Bibliography: Eustratiadis - Arkadios 1924, p. 66. Spatharakis 1981, p. 61, fig. 445. Thesauroi 1991, pp. 244-5, figs. 13-14.