Gospel

The Gospel was printed at the printing house of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra in 1746.

The text is in Church Slavonic, within a frame of one or two lines. Catchwords appear at the foot of the pages. Letter foliation appears in the upper right corner of the frame, with a letter signature at the bottom center of the frame.

The Gospel is decorated with engravings: Jesus Christ (on the reverse of the title page, a copper engraving), full-page copperplate engravings depicting the Evangelists Luke, Mark, Matthew, and John, and 79 miniature illustrations in the text from individual printing blocks (engraver Averkii Kozachkivsky).

The book's decoration is complemented by headpieces, tailpieces, initials, and cast ornaments: a floral-ornamental frame on the title page, and decoration of the running heads.

On the title page is a preface, its text set within a frame of floral and geometric ornament elements.

On folios 1–19 of the second count is the provenance: a donor's inscription reading, "This Gospel was purchased by Afanasii Makarenko, a resident of the newly consecrated Cossack regiment of the sloboda of Borodaivka, for the price of seven rubles, for the Church of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos, December 21, 1754" (a manuscript in ink).

The Gospel is in a hard binding; the boards are wooden, covered in violet-lilac velvet and decorated with metal overlays. On the front cover are voluminous silver-and-gold-toned corner-pieces depicting the Evangelists and a central medallion depicting the Crucifixion with attendant figures (the Mother of God and St. John the Theologian) against the backdrop of a cathedral. The images are set within oval medallions, complemented by winding branches and Baroque-style floral compositions. On the back cover is a central medallion depicting the Cossack icon of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos, with corner-pieces of floral compositions. In the corners are voluminous spherical feet.

The spine is covered in velvet, protected by three shaped silver-toned metal plates with chased floral compositions; the plates are joined to the covers of the binding by a hinged mount.

The object entered the museum's holdings in 1954.

Note: the Gospel is a liturgical book containing early Christian writings that recount the earthly life of the founder of Christianity, Jesus Christ.

In its original sense, "Gospel" means "good news" for all humanity, connected with salvation through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who redeemed people from the bondage of sin and eternal death.

In Christianity, the Gospel is the principal part of the New Testament, which is in turn part of the Bible. The Gospel contains accounts of Jesus Christ — his life, his teaching, his death, and his resurrection.