Hitda Codex

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Storm on the Sea motif from the Hitda Codex
Majestas Domini , fol. 7r, from the Codex

The Hitda Codex , also known as the Hitda Gospels , is considered a major work in Cologne's Ottonian book illumination .

history

The Gospels (since the secularization in Darmstadt , today manuscript 1640 in the University and State Library Darmstadt ) was made after Anton von Euw around 1000 for the St. Walburga Abbey . In 2010 Christoph Winterer dated the Codex to the first five years after 1000. However, this cannot yet be verified by a written examination or written sources. A later date of origin - often represented - (1020 or after 1030/1035) is in contrast to a suggestion made in 2013 that the manuscript by Archbishop Gero of Cologne (969–976) was commissioned to fulfill a legacy of his mother Hidda, who died in Jerusalem in 969/70.

The codex got its name from the Abbess Hitda, who was perhaps a member of the noble house of the Counts of Werl and related to the Ottonian and Burgundian royal houses. Other authors such as Gerhard Weilandt identify her with the Ezzonian abbess Ida († 1060) of the Cologne women's community St. Maria im Kapitol .

In the Darmstadt Hitda Codex, abbess “Hitda” dedicates the Gospel to Saint Walburga in a full-page dedication picture. a. a portable golden statue of the Virgin Mary, clothes and church utensils. An entry dating from around 1500 assigns the handwriting to the women's community in the Sauerland . The code was still in Meschede in the 18th century and from there reached Wedinghausen and finally Darmstadt at the beginning of the 19th century .

Content and design

Large-format Bible scenes dominate, focused on the main characters, in expressive language of form and unconventional coloring. Blue roofs and blue mountains, backgrounds stacked in brightly colored stripes and objects that seem to have come to life - in premodern art this coloristic pathos style raises many questions , the art historian Rainer Warland characterizes the extraordinary style of the splendid manuscript.

Others see a painted theological concept in the picture cycle: "After the overall evaluation of the Hitda Gospel, today's viewer is faced with an impressive theological testimony that shows him what the specifics of Christian belief in incarnation are."

One of the most famous pictures is the storm at sea , a popular art postcard motif.

literature

  • Klaus Gereon Beuckers (Ed.): Abbess Hitda and the Hitda Codex (University and State Library Darmstadt, Hs. 1640). Research on a major work of the Ottonian Cologne illumination . WBG, Darmstadt 2013, ISBN 978-3-534-25379-1 .
  • Leo Eizenhöfer, Hermann Knaus: The liturgical manuscripts of the Hessian state and university library Darmstadt. Wiesbaden 1968, pp. 96-100.
  • Anton von Euw , gospel book of Abbess Hitda von Meschede . In: Before the year 1000 . Western book art at the time of Empress Theophanu, exhibition catalog. Cologne 1991, pp. 40-45. (Digitized version)
  • Paulus Gordan : Revelation in the sign. Nine image views. Beuroner Kunstverlag, Beuron 1966, ISBN 3-87071-011-X . (spiritual interpretations of pictures of the Hitda Codex)
  • Jeremiah Kraus: What is our faith based on? Jesus of Nazareth in the mirror of the Hitda Gospel . (Freiburg Theological Studies, 168). Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau et al. 2005, ISBN 3-451-28653-X . (Also: Freiburg (Breisgau), University, dissertation. 2004)
  • Michael Schaefer: The Hitda Code. Gospels of the St. Walburga Abbey in Meschede. Manuscript 1640 of the Hessian State and University Library in Darmstadt. (Origin and imagery) . Heimatbund der Stadt Meschede, Meschede 2003, ISBN 3-00-012054-8 .
  • Rainer Warland : Heavenly shine of light in the Gospels. On the aesthetic concept of the Hitda Codex . In: Thomas Ganschow u. a. (Ed.): Otium. Festschrift for Volker Michael Strocka . Greiner, Remshalden 2005, ISBN 3-935383-48-7 , pp. 433-436. (Digitized version)
  • Gerhard Weilandt: Who donated the Hitda Codex (Darmstadt, Hess. State and University Library, Cod. 1640)? A contribution to the development of the Ottonian Cologne illumination . In: Annals of the Historical Association for the Lower Rhine . 190, 1987, pp. 49-83.
  • Abbess Hitda 's gospel book. A splendid Ottonian manuscript from Cologne . Miniatures, pictures and decorative pages from the manuscript 1640 of the University and State Library Darmstadt. With an introduction by Christoph Winterer. WBG, Darmstadt 2010, ISBN 978-3-534-23545-2 (= special edition, Primus, Darmstadt 2011, ISBN 978-3-89678-763-7 ).

Web links

Commons : Hitda Codex  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Paul Leidinger : Hitda and the Hitda Codex in Meschede. Was the founder a Countess von Werl and daughter Gerbergas of Burgundy? In: Sauerland 4/2011, p. 187
  2. ↑ cf. Jeremiah Kraus: What is our faith based on? , 59-82.
  3. ↑ Dieter Riemer : New thoughts on Hitda in: Klaus Gereon Beuckers : Abbess Hitda and the Hitda Codex pp. 33-55. in agreement Ulrich Kuder: The Hitda Codex in connection with Cologne illumination of the 10th and 11th centuries in: Klaus Gereon Beuckers : Abbess Hitda and the Hitda Codex pp. 89–111.
  4. ↑ Gerhard Weilandt: The Hitda Codex and its donor Ida von St. Maria im Kapitol in: Klaus Gereon Beuckers : Abbess Hitda and the Hitda Codex P. 57–74, ders .: Who donated the Hitda Codex (Darmstadt, Hess . State and University Library, Cod. 1640)? A contribution to the development of the Ottonian Cologne book painting In: Annalen des Historisches Verein für den Niederrhein Vol. 190 Issue 1 1987 (accessed via De Gruyter Online) pp. 49–84
  5. ^ Rainer Warland, p. 433.
  6. ^ Jeremia Kraus, p. 395.