Berthold sacramentary
The Berthold Sacramentary , also known as the Sacramentary of Abbot Berthold or earlier Berthold Missal , is an illuminated manuscript that was produced in Weingarten Abbey in the first quarter of the 13th century . It is one of the most important works of German book illumination at the time of the transition from Romanesque to Gothic . Today it is in the Morgan Library in New York under the signature stored M.710.
description
The manuscript consists of 165 sheets of parchment in the format 293 × 204 mm, which is almost the size of a modern A4 page. The quality of the parchment is modest for a splendid manuscript, numerous holes and imperfections have been repaired and sewn with multi-colored threads.
content
The manuscript is a sacramentary , so it does not contain the entire mass texts, but only the prayers reserved for the celebrant of a mass celebration . The previously used designation as missal is therefore incorrect. The Berthold Sacramentary contains the canonical parts Canon Missae , Holy Masses ( Sanctorale and Temporale) and Votive Masses . The actual sacramentary is preceded by a twelve-page calendar .
Book decorations
The manuscript is extremely richly illuminated and lavishly decorated with gold and silver. The illuminator is given the emergency name " Berthold-Meister "; other Weingartner manuscripts are also ascribed to it. The book decoration comprises 21 full-page, 5 half-page and 2 smaller miniatures, 6 decorative pages with full-page initials as well as numerous smaller historicized and ornamented initials.
cover
The original splendid binding from the 13th century has been preserved. It consists of extremely thick oak wood covers (front cover: 32 mm, rear cover: 21 mm), which are covered with red leather. The front cover is adorned with gold and silver sheet reliefs set with precious stones. In the middle there is a depiction of the Madonna and Child , in the four corners the evangelists with the corresponding evangelist symbols . At the top, next to the evangelists John and Matthew, are the archangels Michael and Gabriel . Below are personifications of the virtues virginitas (virginity) and humilitas (humility). In the bottom two rows, the saints Oswald and Martin , the main patrons of the Weingarten monastery, as well as Saint Nicholas and Abbot Berthold himself are depicted. All figures shown are identified by name in a silver decorative strip on the edges of the binding.
history
The manuscript was commissioned and donated by Abbot Berthold, who headed the Weingarten Monastery from 1200 to 1232. Even after Berthold's death in 1232, the manuscript remained in Weingarten for centuries. It was not until 1796 that it was briefly relocated to St. Peter's Abbey in Salzburg to protect it from French troops , but was soon brought back again.
In 1803 the Weingarten Abbey was secularized , the ownership of the monastery and thus also the Berthold sacramentary was awarded to the Hereditary Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Nassau-Orange , who brought the manuscript to Fulda . After the Battle of Jena , Fulda came under French administration in 1806. The French city commandant M. Niboyet had four of the most precious manuscripts confiscated: two Gospels from the 11th century that Judith von Flanders bequeathed to the monastery, the Berthold sacramentary and another magnificent manuscript from the 13th century, the Hainricus sacramentary, today Maintained in the Morgan Library as M. 711. The four manuscripts later appeared in the Parisian antiquarian bookstore and were finally acquired in London in 1818 by Thomas Coke, later the Earl of Leicester, for 100 guineas . They remained in the possession of the Earls of Leicester until 1926 and were kept in their family home, Holkham Hall . In 1926, the third earl offered the manuscripts to the British Museum , which, however, could not afford the price of 100,000 pounds. He therefore sold all four Weingartner manuscripts to John Pierpont Morgan, Jr.
literature
- Hanns Swarzenski : The Berthold missal: The Pierpont Morgan library Ms. 710 and the scriptorium of Weingarten Abbey . The Pierpont Morgan Library, New York 1943.
- Hans Ulrich Rudolf : "A book of gold and silver". The Berthold sacramentary from Weingarten (1215–1217). Insights into the most beautiful handwriting from Weingarten Monastery . Ravensburg 1996, ISBN 3-926891-15-7 .
- The Berthold sacramentary. Main band. Academic Printing and Publishing Establishment, Graz 1995, ISBN 3-201-01633-0 . (Latin)
- William Voelkle, Christine Sauer, Frauke Steenbock: The Berthold Sacramentary . (Highlights of book art 22/1). Academic Printing and Publishing Company , Graz 2012, ISBN 978-3-201-01980-4 .
Web links
- Jeweled Binding with Virgin and Child Surrounded by Evangelists, Five Saints, and Two Virtues : Image of the binding of the Berthold Sacramentary on the Morgan Library website
Individual evidence
- ↑ Medieval library catalogs in Germany and Switzerland . Edited by Paul Lehmann. First volume, p. 403. Online in the Google book search