| Document Name: | Hval Manuscript Hval's Miscellany Hvalov zbornik |
| Date Created: | 1404 |
| Location Of Document: | University Library in Bologna, Italy |
| Purpose: | Bosnian Church codex |
Hval's Codex (Hvalov zbornik/Хвалов зборник) or Hval's Manuscript (Hvalov rukopis/Хвалов рукопис) is a Bosnian Cyrillic[1] [2] [3] manuscript of 353 pages written in 1404, in Split, for Duke Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić.[4] It was illuminated by Gothic artists from the Dalmatian littoral.[4]
It was written in 1404 by krstjanin Hval in Bosnian Cyrillic in the Ikavian accent, with a Glagolitic alphabet introduction, and is decorated with miniatures and other artistic elements.[5] The codex contains parts of the Bible, hymns and short theological texts, and it was copied from an original Glagolitic text, also evident from Glagolitic letters found in two places in the book.
The codex is one of the most famous manuscripts belonging to the Bosnian Church in which there are some iconographic elements which are not in concordance with the supposed theological doctrine of Christians (Annunciation, Crucifixion and Ascension). All of the important Bosnian Church books (Nikoljsko evandjelje, Srećkovićevo evandelje, the Manuscript of Hval, the Manuscript of Krstyanin Radosav) are based on Glagolitic Church books.[6]
New analyses of style and painting techniques show that they were inscribed by at least two miniaturists. One painter was painting on the blue background, and the other was painting on the gold background in which the miniatures are situated in a rich architectonic frame.
The Hval Manuscript is kept in the University Library in Bologna, Italy.