The Four Gospels with the Commentary of Theophylact of Ohrid

A full-page miniature illumination depicts Saint John the Evangelist (Theologian) within a highly decorative border.

The border is broad and features a repeating pattern of stylized, overlapping scales or feathers in horizontal rows of alternating colors: red, dark blue, and a light pale blue-green, all set within a gold floral-scrollwork outer frame.

The central scene depicts the Evangelist seated in a stylized scriptorium or palace environment against a brilliant gold leaf background. The architecture consists of a pinkish wall with multiple dark arched openings and five distinct towers on top. The towers feature various roof styles—pyramidal and conical—in red and blue.

Saint John is portrayed as an elderly man with a long grey beard and a circular gold halo. He is seated in a large, high-backed wicker-patterned chair, leaning forward with his right hand near his mouth in a pensive gesture. He wears a lavender-purple tunic and a voluminous dark teal mantle.

To his right is a low wooden desk holding two inkwells (red and black) and other writing tools. Behind the desk, a tall lectern supports a vertical scroll of parchment containing the opening words of his Gospel.

Labels in the background architecture

SAINT JOHN THE THEOLOGIAN

Text on the scroll (Gospel of John 1:1)

In the beginning
was the Word,
and the Word was
with God,
and God was
the Word.