ABSTRACT
Byzantine manuscripts of the decorative style feature illuminations with large, powerfully silhouetted figures with pastel color schemes and flat architecture (Figure 1.1 = Plate 1). Their texts are characterized by a distinctive “low epsilon script” written in dark black ink with magenta titles (Figure 1.2).1 Decorative style manuscripts date from approximately 1150 to 1250 and comprise the single largest group of manuscripts in Byzantine art. While many are of mediocre quality, some decorative style manuscripts are truly extraordinary. In fact, they represent the only deluxe Greek manuscripts from the first half of the thirteenth century, as well as almost all that is known of Byzantine illuminated manuscripts of the late twelfth century.
