Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
Join us for a closer look at the Washington Gospels, one of the world’s oldest surviving manuscripts of the first four books of the New Testament. We discuss how various fields, from bookbinding to DNA analysis, can help us study this manuscript’s materials and understand it as an object. We also explain the care required to handle—and preserve for future generations—this fragile, ancient manuscript.
Speakers: Rhea DeStefano, Paper Conservator, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, and Dr. Beth Harris, Smarthistory
Washington Manuscript III - The Four Gospels (Codex Washingtonensis); Egypt, late 4th–early 5th century; ink on parchment; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1906.274
More information about this object:
https://asia.si.edu/explore-art-culture/collections/search/edanmdm:fsg_F1906.274/
Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art: asia.si.edu
Smarthistory: smarthistory.org
Join us for a closer look at the Washington Gospels, one of the world’s oldest surviving manuscripts of the first four books of the New Testament. We discuss how various fields, from bookbinding to DNA analysis, can help us study this manuscript’s materials and understand it as an object. We also explain the care required to handle—and preserve for future generations—this fragile, ancient manuscript.
Speakers: Rhea DeStefano, Paper Conservator, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, and Dr. Beth Harris, Smarthistory
Washington Manuscript III - The Four Gospels (Codex Washingtonensis); Egypt, late 4th–early 5th century; ink on parchment; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1906.274
More information about this object:
https://asia.si.edu/explore-art-culture/collections/search/edanmdm:fsg_F1906.274/
Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art: asia.si.edu
Smarthistory: smarthistory.org
