Abstract
This paper proposes that patterns of reading fundamental to the Eusebian apparatus also structure aspects of figural illumination in early medieval gospel books. Beginning with in-depth discussion of the St Augustine Gospels (Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 286) and extending into several Carolingian and Anglo-Saxon examples, the essay explores the idea that Eusebian principles of textual segmentation, cross-reference, harmony, and diversity define a number of elaborate visual programmes-both within and beyond illuminated canon tables themselves. The resonance between Eusebian attitudes to text and the selected artists’ approach to the visual setting of the gospels suggests a complex interplay in the manuscripts’ programmes between transmitting the four evangelists’ texts and representing the distinct entity of the gospel book itself.
