Gundohinus Gospels

• Illustration — Example of decorated script from Gundohinus Gospels • Illustration — Canon Tables of Gundohinus Gospels • Illustration — Luke and his symbol, the ox

Throughout the Gundohinus Gospels, there are a number of decorated initials that appear either as capital letters or as majuscule script, and are largely composed of animals or beast-like creatures that are used to create the lines or curvature of the letter being illustrated. One example of this style (shown to the left) is through the use of a bird to indicate the side of the letter "C". It is thought that this style has its origination with Roman scriptoria and can be seen in other 8th-Century Merovingian manuscripts.

The Gundohinus Gospels contains twelve pages of canon tables which were meant to be used to determine which religious passages were shared within which of the Four Gospels. The canon tables (shown to the right) are framed with Roman style pillars or columns with four concentric arches - one over each of the four gospels. The open spaces of the arches are filled with illustrations of leaves and vines, while the columns themselves contain repetitive designs flowing vertically of either geometric shapes or curved scroll like artistry. Unlike the decorated initials previously noted, it does not appear that the use of animals or beasts appear anywhere on the framework surrounding the gospels nor within the script of the gospel citations themselves.

Relevant to the gospels contained within, the Gundohinus Gospels also contains depictions of the four Evangelists; Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The last four pages (f.186-188) portray these evangelists contained in architectural roundels similar to those in the St Augustine Gospels and Stockholm Codex, although Nees places them apart from the insular tradition, speculating that they were instead derived from a Ravenna manuscript. Noteworthy is the fact that of all of the surviving Merovingian types of manuscripts, the Gundohinus Gospels is the only such religious document that provides "full-page" portraits of these evangelists. By depicting the four Evangelists in this manner, it adds to the uniqueness of the Gundohinus Gospels in comparison to other such religious or other manuscripts of the medieval time period. From an iconic figural perspective, though these portraits are part of a work created in the mid-700's CE, their depiction can be compared against that of later era Carolingian empire artistic representations.