Gospel Book of Otto III. (Munich)

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Luke the Evangelist (fol.139v)

The Gospel Book of Otto III. or Heinrich II Gospels ( Bayerische Staatsbibliothek , Clm 4453) is a work of Ottonian book illumination and is one of the main works of this era. Together with nine other works from the Reichenau School , the manuscript was included in UNESCO's list of world heritage documents in 2003.

history

The manuscript was probably created around the year 1000 on behalf of Otto III. or his successor Heinrich II. in the Reichenau monastery and belongs to the so-called Liuthar group of Reichenau illumination. The Gospels belonged to the Bamberg Cathedral Treasury until 1803 and came to the Bavarian State Library in Munich during the course of secularization , where it is now kept under the signature Clm 4453 .

description

Handwriting

Content and design

The parchment manuscript , in the style of the Reichenau School , consists of 278 sheets (I + 277) in the format 33.5 × 24 cm. The book decoration consists of 29 full-page miniatures , twelve canon tables as well as four full-page initial pages : The canon tables in richly furnished arcades are followed by the double-sided image of the emperor, at the beginning of the Gospels the depictions of the Gospels as well as a decorative page with an initial and the beginning of the text. In the Gospel texts can be found on the individual pericopes belonging illustrations . A special group can be seen in the miniatures of the Passion Cycle, the painter of the emperor's picture deserves an outstanding position. As with the scribes, several, mostly three, hands have been distinguished with the painters, but their parts cannot be clearly separated from one another. The three writers of the Reichenau scriptorium written text is in minuscule written when writing award is red and black Capitalis rustica , only for the opening lines of the chapter is red Uncialis related to golden initial capital.

Kaiserbild

description
Kaiserbild (dedication picture) (fol. 23v – 24r)

The first image in the manuscript is also its most famous: the depiction of the enthroned ruler to whom the provinces pay homage to their gifts. The dedication picture occupies the inside of a double sheet, which is located between the canon tables and another double sheet with the evangelist picture and the initial page of the Gospel of Matthew .

In the right half of the double image you can see the emperor sitting on a lion throne in front of a column of his palace closed with a curtain, surrounded by the greats of his empire. Crowned with a large crown set with gemstones, he is dressed in light Alba and, as a sign of his imperial dignity, a narrow-sleeved purple tunic , the golden hems and stripes of which are richly set with precious stones. Over it lies the coat closed on the right shoulder. In his right hand he holds the Augustan eagle scepter , in his left the Sphaira adorned with the cross as an insignia of power .

Next to the enthroned man on the left are two clergymen in episcopal robes and adorned with the pallium - an indication of their position as metropolitans - on the right two arms bearers, one each in old age and one in adolescence, holding the ruler's sword, lance and shield. The clothing of the individual persons is carefully chosen and clearly differentiated from that of the emperor: the long tunic is reserved for the emperor, the archbishops are entitled to the wide-sleeved pontifical dalmatics and finally the two warriors are entitled to a short tunic. Furthermore, the enthroned man wears buttoned shoes, while the clergy wears flat cut-out sandals and the weapon bearers wear half-high boots. The hair and beard costume are also carefully designed: the secular assistants to the throne wear long full beards, while the older clergyman with a short beard, while the younger one is portrayed to the emperor without a beard. What is also striking is the red hair color, which stands out compared to the other figures, which again distinguishes the ruler in a special way.

This front-facing, solemn group is juxtaposed with the right-facing procession of four allegorical female figures: they are personifications of the provinces of Roma , Gallia , Germania and Sclavinia who bring their gifts to the emperor in homage. Led by the Roma, who come along with a gold bowl filled with precious stones, whose hands, unlike those of the other figures, are covered with a large red, ornamented ornamental cloth, Gallia follow with a palm branch, Germania with a cornucopia full of jewels and finally Sclavinia with a golden globe in her hand . All four are richly crowned and clad in lavishly decorated robes, they are also shown barefoot and with long, open hair - Roma and Gallia are dark-haired and skinned, Germania and Sclavinia are blond and light-skinned. In the different choice of hair color, flesh and costume as well as the type of their gifts, the desire for invigorating variety and for individualizing identification meet.

interpretation

The names of the four figures and the order in which they appear were one of the weighty arguments in favor of the ruler as Emperor Otto III. to be identified with particular reference to those last years of rule in which the idea of ​​Rome was the central theme of his politics. The second place, unless simply determined by the rank and age of the provinces in the Union of the Roman Empire , has rightly been associated with the other great model that has enjoyed the unreserved admiration of the Ottonian emperor in recent years: Charlemagne, whose capital and grave with Aachen enclosed the province of Gallia as the left bank of the Rhine empire. The figure of Sclavinia also points to the time when Otto tried to bind the Slavic empire more tightly to himself.

The fact that the Rome idea was linked to the thought of the peace emperor Augustus, whose eagle scepter Otto is holding in his right hand, reinforces the programmatic content of the presentation, and so it is not surprising that in the course of the history of reception the attempt has been made again and again to allow historical figures standing on both sides of the throne. In the end, however, there is no concrete evidence for such identifications; rather, the said figures belong to ancient imperial iconography and so the viewer already encounters portraits of Carolingian rulers in a very corresponding form and function as a weapon bearer.

The importance of the clergy and in particular of the episcopate as a constituent factor for the structure of the Ottonian imperial church is reflected in the representation by the two clerical dignitaries who are on the ruler's side, the elder of whom, the one in front, laid his hand on the cushion of the throne - one Gesture that can also be found in Carolingian art, for example in the Vivian Bible , but here with two secular greats who stand on the throne of Charles the Bald and put their hands on the armrest on the right and left.

The presentation of precious gifts and the offering of the aurum coronarium (literally "wreath, crown gold"), i.e. the gift of honor to be brought to the emperor crowned with the golden wreath , the corona triumphalis , at the celebration of his triumph , has been handed down in various forms. If this ancient, time-honored rite is performed here by the allegorical figures of the Roma and the provinces of the empire, this is explained by the great record of late Roman state symbols , the Notitia dignitatum , where the personifications of the cities and provinces show the characteristic features of the Ottonian figures to be found again: the crowns placed on the flowing hair, the magnificently decorated robes, the gifts offered with covered hands in the form of bowl, palm branch, cornucopia and globe.

Beyond the concept of the Aurum Coronarium , Otto III's image of the emperor. But it has also been brought into connection with the pictorial theme that embodies a transfer of the ancient ceremony of homage to Christian civilization: the adoration of the three wise men from the Orient , who, offering their gifts to Christ, have now become kings at the end of the tenth century. This parallel is particularly evident in the choice of the attributes of the figures in a representation of the Adoration of the Magi (fol. 29r) in the present Gospel; a cornucopia in the hand of one of the magicians is unusual, but to be found again and again in the Reichenau follow-up of this picture, so that it may have been taken over here for the provinces paying homage.

The aforementioned analogies , however, ultimately culminate in that area of political theology , at the center of which is the immanent identification or equation of the emperor with Christ that took place in Ottonian times. Nowhere else is this daring symbolism of the emperor as earthly Christ and world ruler better expressed than in the depiction of Otto III's apotheosis . in the Aachen Liuthar Gospels , the work that was also published around the year 1000 on behalf of Otto III. on the Reichenau.

cover

cover

The core of the book cover consists of two 13 mm thick oak panels in the format 338 × 245 or 242 mm and is adorned on the front with a Byzantine ivory relief depicting the death of Mary and 188 precious stones and on the inside covered with a silk fabric also imported from Byzantium the time around the year 1000. The back cover, however, is covered with a red velvet probably dating from the 18th century .

The frame made of sheet gold is lavishly set with precious stones, gems and pearls in closed and openwork settings , between which there are golden filigree cones and spherical pyramids . The corners are emphasized by colored enamel plates . The cut stones are of ancient and Byzantine origin; an Alsengemme probably dates from the eighth or ninth century.

The irregular distribution of the decorative stones can be attributed to the damage and restorations that the originally balanced system, the basic features of which can still be recognized, suffered over the centuries through new versions, additions and relocations. The gemstone settings with sapphires, which were once and in some cases still arranged in a cross shape, are striking. In terms of their design, these contrast with most other gemstone settings, which can, however, be compared very well with settings on works by the goldsmiths of Emperor Heinrich II. This can indicate that the binding was fundamentally restored and revised under Heinrich II., Who donated the codex to the Bamberg Cathedral Monastery. Perhaps the binding was not finished when the manuscript came into the hands of Emperor Heinrich II and was only completed after the change of ownership.

The ivory tablet depicting the death of the Virgin was originally part of a triptych and represents one of the most important works of Byzantine ivory carving of the tenth century, which probably belonged to Otto III. originates. The balanced composition shows the figure of Mary resting on the death bed under a canopy in the foreground, to the side the mourning apostles and in the center Christ, who lifts up the soul of the deceased, who is received by two angels floating down from above with covered hands.

classification

The Gospel Book of Otto III. represents the classic type of the early medieval gospel book , as it was the result of a long development towards the end of the tenth century. As part of the Liuthar group, it is undoubtedly the successor to the work that gives it its name, the ornamentation of which it shares with it, especially based on late antique , Byzantine and Carolingian models. The Otto Codex has strong stylistic tendencies in common with the Codex Egberti with regard to its miniatures, and there are clear stylistic parallels with the Bamberg Pericopes Book, which also belongs to the Liuthar group and which was created later .

literature

  • Konrad Hoffmann : The evangelist pictures of the Munich Otto Gospel (CLM 4453). In: Journal of the German Association for Art History. 20, 1966, pp. 17-46.
  • Konrad Hoffmann: The image of the ruler in the "Gospels of Otto III." (Clm 4453). In: Early Medieval Studies . 7, 1973, pp. 324-341.
  • Gerhard Weilandt: The tribute picture in the Gospels of Emperor Otto III. in its historical context. In: History in Science and Education . 42, 1991, pp. 535-548.
  • Florentine Mütherich , Karl Dachs (Ed.): The Gospel Book of Otto III. Clm 4453 of the Bavarian State Library in Munich. Prestel, Munich (among others) 2001, ISBN 3-7913-2431-4 (= licensed edition for the Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2001).
  • Ingo F. Walther, Norbert Wolf : Masterpieces of book illumination. Taschen, Cologne u. a. 2005, ISBN 3-8228-4747-X , pp. 114-117.
  • Splendor on parchment. Treasures of book painting from 780 to 1180. (= Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. Exhibition catalogs No. 86). Hirmer, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-7774-5391-0 , pp. 158-165 (with literature).
  • Karl-Georg Pfändtner: New Findings on the Binding of the Gospel of Otto III. In: Codices Manuscripti & Impressi 105 (2016), ISSN 0379-3621, pp. 1–8.
  • Karl-Georg Pfändtner: First art-historical findings of the binding project. In: Karl-Georg Pfändtner, Carolin Schreiber: The DFG project "Development and digitization of magnificent bindings as independent art objects at the BSB Munich" - an interim report. In: binding research. Information sheet of the working group for the recording, indexing and preservation of historical bindings (AEB) 39 (October 2016), ISSN 1437-8167, pp. 6–24, here pp. 12–24.

Web links

Commons : Gospels of Otto III.  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

(Warning, the Commons page mixes up different manuscripts that are not Clm 4453!)

Remarks

  1. ^ Website of the German UNESCO Commission on the German World Document Heritage .
  2. ↑ Cf. in detail Fridolin Dreßler : On the history of the handwriting. In: Florentine Mütherich, Karl Dachs (Ed.): The Gospel Book of Otto III. Clm 4453 of the Bavarian State Library in Munich. Pp. 11-17.
  3. ↑ Florentine Mütherich, Karl Dachs (Ed.): The Gospel Book of Otto III. Clm 4453 of the Bavarian State Library in Munich. P. 26 mw N.
  4. ↑ Florentine Mütherich, Karl Dachs (Ed.): The Gospel Book of Otto III. Clm 4453 of the Bavarian State Library in Munich. P. 32.
  5. ↑ a b c d Florentine Mütherich, Karl Dachs (ed.): The Gospel Book of Otto III. Clm 4453 of the Bavarian State Library in Munich. P. 32 mw N.
  6. ↑ Florentine Mütherich, Karl Dachs (Ed.): The Gospel Book of Otto III. Clm 4453 of the Bavarian State Library in Munich. Pp. 32-33.
  7. ↑ a b c d e Florentine Mütherich, Karl Dachs (ed.): The Gospel Book of Otto III. Clm 4453 of the Bavarian State Library in Munich. P. 33 mw N.
  8. ↑ a b c Florentine Mütherich, Karl Dachs (Ed.): The Gospel Book of Otto III. Clm 4453 of the Bavarian State Library in Munich. P. 25.
  9. ↑ a b c Florentine Mütherich, Karl Dachs (Ed.): The Gospel Book of Otto III. Clm 4453 of the Bavarian State Library in Munich. P. 25 mw N.
  10. ^ Karl-Georg Pfändtner: New findings on the binding of the Gospel Otto III. In: Codices Manuscripti & Impressi . tape 105 . Hollinek brothers, Purkersdorf 2016, p. 1-8 .
  11. ↑ Florentine Mütherich, Karl Dachs (Ed.): The Gospel Book of Otto III. Clm 4453 of the Bavarian State Library in Munich. P. 23.
  12. ↑ Florentine Mütherich, Karl Dachs (Ed.): The Gospel Book of Otto III. Clm 4453 of the Bavarian State Library in Munich. Pp. 20, 76-77.