Pericopes of Henry II

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Peter receives the keys to the kingdom of heaven (fol. 152 v )

The Pericope Book of Heinrich II. , Also called Bamberg Pericope Book or Evangelistar Heinrichs II. , Is a work of Ottonian book illumination and is one of the main works of this epoch . The Pericope Book ( Evangelistary ) was probably created around 1007–1012 in Reichenau Monastery on behalf of Emperor Heinrich II for Bamberg Cathedral on the occasion of its consecration . It belongs to the so-called Liuthar group of the Reichenau painting school .

In the course of secularization , the codex came from the Bamberg Cathedral Treasury to the Bavarian State Library in Munich in 1803 , where it is now kept under the signature Clm 4452 . Together with nine other works from the Reichenau School , the manuscript was included in UNESCO's list of world heritage documents in 2003.

Handwriting

Content and design

Pericopes of Henry II, fol. 8 v : Annunciation to the shepherds

The parchment manuscript comprises 206 sheets of 42.5 × 32 cm format, which are summarized in 35 layers, each with 19 lines of text. The book decoration consists of 28 full-page miniatures , 10 decorative pages and 184 large initials . The miniatures are relatively large, so that extraordinarily wide margins correspond to the cultivated luxury of the decoration of the manuscript. With 194 in number, the Gospel sections intended for use in the context of the liturgy , the so-called pericopes, of the four evangelists in the order of the church year , therefore beginning with the Christmas Gospel and ending with the pericopes to be read on the Advent Sundays , are included. This is followed by the readings for the commemoration of the saints .

The artistic design of the pericope book refers to the content and serves not only to decorate the manuscript but also to structure it. All pericopes begin with a large initial filled with gold tendrils on a colored background, each six to ten lines high; golden initial letters decorate the individual lines. The regular red fixed indication of the first line as well as the actual beginning of the text, to which the initial also belongs, are consistently in Uncialis , while the intermediate lines with the indication of the evangelist and mostly the introductory phrase In illo tempore or Dixit Jesus discipulis suis are in Capitalis rustica , which is also occasionally included in the second line of text. At ten particularly outstanding celebrations , the beginning of the text is designed as an ornamental page; The initials and first words stand on a purple background surrounded by a colored ornamental frame . The decorative sides with the inception of Festtagsperikopen the associated images requires the high strength by double-sided image compositions, a few by an image side illuminated are. The text was probably written by two scribes in even, somewhat steeper minuscule .

In honor of King Henry II , the code begins with a picture of the coronation of the ruler and his wife by Christ, to whom the apostles Peter and Paul , who are also the patrons of Bamberg Cathedral, pay homage. The cover picture is preceded by a dedication poem by Heinrich to the cathedral and his patron.

Coronation image

iconography

Above: The coronation of Heinrich and his wife Kunigunde by Christ, behind them the Bamberg patrons Peter and Paul. Below: personifications of the provinces and the six duchies (fol. 2 r )

Probably one of the best-known depictions of the manuscript shows the coronation of Henry II and his wife Kunigunde by Christ. The princes of the apostles Peter on the left and Paul on the right of Christ lead the rulers before the Lord of All . Petrus can be recognized by the short goatee and the monogram key in his left hand, in whose beard the three letters PER can be read as an indication of the name bearer. The two-part key also indicates the power of binding and redemption that was entrusted to Peter through Christ. The emperor holds the Sphaira and the scepter as his secular symbols of power .

In the lower half of the picture appear the large, full-length and crowned personifications of three provinces , including six smaller figures in half-length figures . Since there are no inscriptions, their identification is only possible on the basis of the traditional pictorial tradition as well as by means of historical contextualization: in the middle it is likely to be Roma or Italia , on their sides are Gallia and Germania , a laurel wreath and a (further) Sphaira offer. The figures striding from below with valuable gifts in the form of golden bowls filled with precious stones and cornucopia represent either the main Germanic tribes or - more likely - the six duchies of Bavaria , Swabia , Franconia , Saxony , Lower and Upper Lorraine .

According to the inscription, the figures represent the census , the tax, by which the aurum coronarium is meant here . In Roman antiquity, this was the name given to honorary gifts, in particular golden wreaths and other various kinds of valuables, which, according to customary law, were to be given by the population to their rulers on certain occasions. Based on the time-honored custom of antiquity, this tradition was also connected in the Carolingian and later Ottonian times with the corresponding image of the ruler, which legitimized itself from the continuation of the Roman idea, and was also taken up by illuminating through the design of the imperial iconography , such as also the picture of the emperor in the Gospel of Otto III. to Munich impressively documented.

Inscriptions

The coronation scene is dominated by the following inscription:

TRACTANDO IUSTUM • DISCERNITE SEMPER HONESTV [M] •
UTILE CONUENIAT • CONSVLTUM LEGIS UT OPTAT •

“Do what is just, always understand what is honorable.
May the useful be found in what the law demands counsel. "

The following lines are attached to the provinces that pay homage:

SOLUIMUS ECCE TIBI • REX CENSUM IURE PERENNI •
CLEMENS ESTO TUIS • NOS REDDIMUS ISTA QUOTANNIS •

“See, King, we bring you the tax according to perpetual law.
Be gracious to yours; we bring this year after year. "

classification

Among the Reichenau manuscripts, the Pericope Book of Henry II is closest to the other manuscripts of the Liuthar group: the eponymous Liuthar Gospels, the Munich Gospels of Otto III. as well as the Bamberg Apocalypse . The images of the manuscript seem to represent the end of an artistic development from the point of view of increasing clarification of the image structures and progressive monumentalization , in which the Munich Gospel Book of Otto III. occupies a middle position.

cover

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Like the manuscript, the binding , which was created between 1007 and 1012, is probably the most richly decorated of the sumptuous manuscripts from the Ottonian period. In the center front it is decorated with a gold-framed Carolingian ivory carving from the court school of Charles the Bald around 870, which depicts the crucifixion scene and the women at the grave .

The ivory panels are framed by four strips with the inscription:

GRAMMATA QVI SOPHIE QVERIT COGNOSCERE VERE | (top)
HOC MATHESIS PLENE QVADRATVM PLAVDET HABERE | (right)
EN QVI VERACES SOPHIE FVLSERE SEQVACES | (left)
ORNAT PERFECTAM REX HEINRIH STEMMATE SECTAM | (below)

“Anyone who seeks to understand the scriptures of true wisdom
will be delighted to have this Fourth of the High Doctrine in its fullness.
See here those who shine as true disciples of wisdom;
King Heinrich adorns this perfect teaching with a crown. "

The “Fourth of the High Doctrine” refers to the four Gospels in which the fullness of wisdom is gathered. The inscription strips are framed by a gold frame set with pearls, precious stones and twelve Byzantine enamel plates , in which a pearl necklace was inserted in earlier times. The enamels from the second half of the tenth century show busts of Christ, several apostles and the evangelists Matthew , Luke and John , and in the corners of Tondi with the evangelist symbols of the late tenth century.

The Agnus Dei can be seen in the center of the back cover as one of five silver fittings in a circular frame surrounded by smaller, similar tondi with personifications of the cardinal virtues . They belong to a larger group of comparable engravings , the most outstanding bearers of which represent the cross nail reliquary of Henry II and the Imperial Cross kept in the treasury of the Residenz . The four crowned female busts are clad in imperial robes, which are to be understood as simplified representations of Byzantine court clothing: The wide collar corresponds to the jeweled collar of the Byzantine empress, the maniacon , the vertical stripe to the loros .

In terms of the richness of its furnishings, the book cover can best be compared with that of the Codex aureus Charles the Bald, on the one hand, and with splendid Byzantine bindings and even icons on the other . The arrangement of the Byzantine enamel plates is likely to be based on such Byzantine models. The origin is believed to be in Regensburg.

See also

literature

Christmas stamp with the depiction of the birth of Christ (fol. 9 r ) from the Pericope Book, published by Deutsche Post in 1996
  • Georg Leidinger : The Pericope Book of Emperor Heinrich II (= miniatures from manuscripts of the Royal Court and State Library in Munich. Vol. 5). Riehn & Tietze, Munich 1914 (special print).
  • Albert Boeckler : The Pericope Book of Emperor Heinrich II (= The Art Letter. Vol. 26). Mann, Berlin 1944 (special print)
  • Hermann Fillitz , Rainer Kahsnitz (Hrsg.): Ornament for eternity. The Pericopes Book of Henry II (= Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. Exhibition catalogs No. 63). S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1994, ISBN 3-10-060610-8 .
  • Florentine Mütherich , Peter Bloch (eds.): The Pericopes Book of Heinrich II. CLM 4452 of the Bavarian State Library, Munich, accompanying volume and documentation folder (facsimile edition), S. Fischer (among others), Frankfurt am Main 1994, ISBN 3-10-060606-X .
  • Thomas Labusiak : The Pericope Book of Emperor Heinrich II. A manuscript to leaf through . Manuscripts from Bavarian libraries on CD-ROM, House of Bavarian History, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Augsburg 2002, ISBN 3-927233-79-X .
  • Ingo F. Walther, Norbert Wolf : Masterpieces of book illumination. Taschen, Cologne u. a. 2005, ISBN 3-8228-4747-X , pp. 122-125.
  • Claudia Fabian and Christiane Lange (eds.): Splendor on parchment. Treasures of book illumination from 780 to 1180. (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. Exhibition catalogs, No. 86). Hirmer, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-7774-5391-0 , pp. 176-181 (with literature).
  • Johann Konrad Eberlein : The Pericope Book of Heinrich II. (CLM 4452) - a look at the production method of the miniatures. In: Christine Beier and Evelyn Theresia Kubina (eds.): Paths to the illuminated book. Production conditions for book illumination in the Middle Ages and early modern times. Vienna 2014, pp. 10-25, ISBN 978-3-205-79491-2 ( online ).

Web links

Commons : The Pericopes Book of Heinrich II.  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ^ Website of the German UNESCO Commission on the German World Document Heritage .
  2. ↑ a b c d Hermann Fillitz, Rainer Kahsnitz (ed.): Decoration for eternal time. Henry II's Pericopes, p. 99.
  3. ↑ Detailed descriptions of the individual representations: Ulrich Kuder: Die Bilder und Zierseiten. In: Hermann Fillitz, Rainer Kahsnitz (Hrsg.): Decoration for eternal time. Heinrich II's Pericopes, pp. 109–132.
  4. ↑ a b c d e Hermann Fillitz, Rainer Kahsnitz (ed.): Decoration for eternal time. Henry II's Pericopes, p. 97.
  5. ↑ Hermann Fillitz, Rainer Kahsnitz (Ed.): Zierde für Ewige Zeit. Henry II's pericopes, p. 100.
  6. ↑ a b c Hermann Fillitz, Rainer Kahsnitz (ed.): Decoration for eternal time. Henry II's Pericopes, p. 111.
  7. ↑ a b Cited with marginal deviations from Hermann Fillitz, Rainer Kahsnitz (ed.): Zierde für Ewige Zeit. Henry II's Pericopes, p. 111.
  8. ^ A b translation after Hermann Fillitz, Rainer Kahsnitz (Ed.): Zierde für Ewige Zeit. Henry II's Pericopes, p. 111.
  9. ↑ In detail on the history of the history of the early history of the Rainer Kahsnitz manuscript: Heinrich II. And Bamberg, the Reichenau and the Pericope Book. In: Hermann Fillitz, Rainer Kahsnitz (Hrsg.): Decoration for eternal time. The Pericopes of Henry II pp. 9–32 mw N.
  10. ^ Rainer Kahsnitz: Heinrich II. And Bamberg, the Reichenau and the Pericope Book. In: Hermann Fillitz, Rainer Kahsnitz (Hrsg.): Decoration for eternal time. Henry II's Pericopes, pp. 27, 31.
  11. ↑ a b c d e Hermann Fillitz, Rainer Kahsnitz (ed.): Decoration for eternal time. Henry II's Pericopes, p. 103.
  12. ↑ Quoted from Hermann Fillitz, Rainer Kahsnitz (Hrsg.): Zierde für Ewige Zeit. Henry II's Pericopes, p. 103.
  13. ^ Translation after Hermann Fillitz, Rainer Kahsnitz (Ed.): Zierde für Ewige Zeit. Henry II's Pericopes, p. 103.
  14. ↑ a b c Hermann Fillitz, Rainer Kahsnitz (ed.): Decoration for eternal time. Henry II's Pericopes, p. 106.