Codex Egberti
The Codex Egberti , also known as the Egbert Codex , is a work of Ottonian book illumination . The Evangelistary was created for the Archbishop of Trier Egbert between 980 and 993 in the scriptorium of the Reichenau monastery . It is the oldest surviving New Testament picture cycle with depictions from the life of Christ.
description
The manuscript consists of 165 parchment leaves with 60 precious book illuminations , 51 of which are miniatures of sections of the Gospels (so-called pericopes), which are arranged in the order of the church year (and thus the life of Christ). They depict the life and deeds of Christ. Seven of these miniatures are attributed to the master of the Registrum Gregorii , who worked in Trier , whose exact name is not known. The gospel pericopes are preceded by four decorative double pages: the dedication miniature with dedication poem, the 4 evangelists as full-page miniatures as well as an incipit page and a full-page initial ligature.
In 1380 the Codex Egberti served as a template for the pericopes of the Archbishop of Trier, Kuno von Falkenstein .
history
The book was used for church services in the church of St. Paulin in Trier until the 18th century , since Bishop Egbert von Trier gave it to the abbey. It has been in the Trier City Library since 1810 (signature: Ms. 24).
During the Second World War , the Codex was initially in a bomb-proof tunnel in the Pallien district of Trier , but was brought to the Giessen University Library in September 1944 as protection from the approaching Americans . When this was largely destroyed in a bomb attack on December 11th, the stored Trier stocks were taken to a rectory in Elkerhausen near Weilburg / Lahn. On May 15th they were picked up by a Trier delegation in a fire engine. The pastor declined thanks for the preservation of the art treasures, saying that he had not done this for the city of Trier, but for humanity.
In 2000, sheets of the manuscript were restored at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences .
Together with other Reichenau manuscripts, the Codex Egberti was added to the UNESCO Memory of the World list in April 2004 .
facsimile
In 1960 the first full facsimile edition of the Codex Egberti appeared in a limited edition of 800 copies. Edited by Dr. Hubert Schiel at Alkuin-Verlag AG, Basel, this work comprised the 165 sheets of the manuscript and a detailed volume of text.
The Facsimile Verlag Luzern brought a limited edition of 980 pieces onto the market in 2005. The scanned parchment pages are available as CD publications and should also be published on the Internet.
exhibition
From April 27, 2005 to January 8, 2006 the Codex Egberti was exhibited in the Trier City Library. Since the codex was still divided into individual sheets due to the previous restoration, the exhibition was divided into three sections in order to give a complete overview. For three months each, 20 of the double-sided written and painted sheets were exhibited in the original and the others as facsimiles. After the exhibition, which was visited by 17,000 people and generated income of 147,000 euros through entrance fees and the sale of publications, the sheets were put back together into a book. The Codex Egberti is now on display in a permanent exhibition in the city library. It is shown in the treasury with other important documents from the Middle Ages and early modern times.
literature
- Franz J. Ronig : Codex Egberti. Archbishop Egbert von Trier's (977-993) book of pericopes. Trier 1977, ISBN 3-87760-610-5 .
- Philipps University of Marburg (ed.): Sankt Elisabeth: Fürstin - Dienerin - Heilige. Jan Thorbecke Verlag, Sigmaringen 1981, ISBN 3-7995-4035-0 , catalog number 12.
- Gunther Franz, Franz J. Ronig: Codex Egberti of the Trier City Library. Origin and history of the manuscript . Reichert, Wiesbaden 1984, ISBN 3-88226-204-4 .
- Gunther Franz (Ed.): The Egbert Codex. The life of Jesus. A highlight of book illumination 1000 years ago. Catalog for the exhibition in the treasure chamber of the Trier City Library from April 27, 2005 to January 8, 2006. Theiss, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-8062-1951-6 (= edition for the Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2005, ISBN 3-534-18759 -8 ).
- Thomas Labusiak : The Ruodprecht group of the Ottonian Reichenauer book painting. Image sources - ornamentation - stylistic prerequisites. (Monuments of German Art). Deutscher Verlag für Kunstwissenschaft, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-87157-222-7 .
- Michael Embach: One hundred highlights - Precious manuscripts and prints from the Trier City Library. Regensburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-7954-2750-4 , p. 52f.
media
- Heidemarie Anderlik: The Egbert Codex. German Historical Museum et al., 2005 (CD-ROM, virtual library)
- Franz J. Ronig: The miniatures of the CODEX EGBERTI. 2 DVDs with three lectures: 1. Pictures of the Incarnation and Childhood Story of Jesus , 2. The Public Life of Jesus , 3. Passion Story and Resurrection . (122 minutes)
Web links
Remarks
- ↑ Franz, Gunther (Ed.): The Egbert Codex. The life of Jesus. A highlight of book illumination 1000 years ago. Stuttgart 2005.
- ^ Website of the UNESCO Commission
- ↑ http://www.stadtbibliothek-weberbach.de/Schatzkammer/