Leo Bible
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The Leo Bible (Rome, Vatican, Bib. Apostolica, MS. Reg. gr. 1) is a Byzantine illuminated manuscript dated to the mid 10th century, making it one of the earliest surviving Byzantine Bibles.[1][2] Though only one volume survives, a preface and an intact contents page tell us that the Bible originally contained both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament.[3][4] Due to its association with the Macedonian Renaissance it is often grouped along with the stylistically similar Paris Psalter and Joshua Roll.[4][5] A prefatory poem indicates that the volume was commissioned by one Leo Patrikios, and so it is also known as the Bible of Leo the Patrician (Bibel des Patricius Leo).[6][7]
The size of the Bible (410mm-270mm) is unusually large.[4] It contains books Genesis through Psalms prefaced by 18 full-page miniatures rendered in a colorful, ‘painterly’ fashion that were inserted on separate leaves, suggesting that they were perhaps added after the initial completion of the text.[2][4] The miniatures are rendered largely in figural and architectural forms that reflect the Macedonian Renaissance’s interest in classicism.[2] However, the visual content as well as the verse inscriptions, presumed to be written by Leo, often eschew traditional Biblical narratives and tend to place a large emphasis on Moses,[8] as well as offer uncommon iconography such as images of Judith and Holofernes.[4] Recent scholarship suggests that the inscriptions were intended to be read as exegesis.[4][9]