Theophanu Gospels

The picture of the founder of the Theophanu Gospel : Abbess Theophanu at the feet of the Blessed Mother as the founder of the Gospel

The Theophanu Gospel is a gospel that was made under Abbess Theophanu (1039-1059) for the Essen Abbey . The richly illuminated manuscript, once provided with a lavishly decorated ornate binding , is now in the Essen Cathedral Treasury .

Since the Theophanu Gospels have almost identical dimensions as the Carolingian Gospels , which are also in the Cathedral Treasury , it can be assumed that it replaced this older Gospel as a splendid Gospel in the liturgy . It can be seen in the overall context of the rich donations that Theophanu made for furnishing the Essen collegiate church , today's cathedral: the Theophanu Gospels, the Theophanu Cross and the Kreuznagel reliquary . They are linked by similar artistic design methods as well as functionally, because all three objects are closely related to the crucifixion of Christ . The gospel represents the crucifixion in its central image, the reliquary contains the Holy Nail, one of the relics of the Passion of Christ , and the cross hides a cross relic under its central jewel . They were all probably in the context of the Easter liturgy on Good Friday symbolically instead of Christ in a grave on the loft of the West plant down and in the Easter Vigil brought out again. It is possible that these three objects were carried in advance of the abbess as emblems of sovereignty on ceremonial occasions.

Handwriting

The parchment manuscript ( Sign. Hs. 3 ) comprises 157 sheets in the format 35.5 × 25 cm in 21 layers . The text of the manuscript was written in Carolingian minuscule by a single scribe who may have worked in Essen . The text is arranged in one column with 27 lines per page.

The manuscript is richly decorated with illustrations and initials . At the beginning there is the letter of Jerome to Pope Damasus (fol. 1r – 2v), the preface to the canon tables (fol. 2v) and eleven canon tables (fol. 3r – 8v). Each of the Gospels begins with the table of contents and a full-page representation of the respective evangelist as well as two initial pages. The evangelist pictures go back to older models that are suspected to be found in the northern French-Belgian art landscape. The Capitulare evangeliorum (fol. 147r – 157r) concludes.

**Evangelist pictures from the Theophanu Gospel**

Matthew (fol. 10v)	Markus (fol.50v)	Luke (fol.76v)	John (fol.116v)

cover

The cover of the Theophanu Gospels

Theophanu commissioned a precious, splendid binding for the Gospels . Under Abbess Franziska Christine (1726–1776) this was separated from the manuscript and the latter was provided with a back made of gold-embossed leather. The original back of the binding is now also kept separately in the treasury of Essen Cathedral .

description

The cover of the Gospel book measures 35.7 × 26 cm. The binding consists of a core made of oak wood, which is surrounded by a shell made of embossed gold sheet, richly adorned with precious stones , the middle occupies an ivory tablet. This is surrounded by a frame set with filigree ribbons , precious stones and pearls. From this, ornamental bands run diagonally from the corners to the corners of an outer gold frame, creating four trapezoidal image fields.

In the upper field, the triumphant Christ is enthroned as Pantocrator in the mandorla between two angels. The lower field shows the founder picture . In the middle Mary is enthroned with the blessing Baby Jesus on her lap. Abbess Theophanu kneels at her feet (inscription THEOPHANV ABBA [TISS] A ), who places the Gospel Book she donated at the feet of the enthroned. On the side are the saints Pinnosa and Walburga , two saints, of whom relics were venerated in Essen, as intercessors . In the two side fields, the Essenes patrons Petrus and Paulus (above) and Cosmas and Damian (below) are shown under arcades .

The back cover of the binding is a wooden panel covered with silk and framed by an ornamented metal strip. Four round medallions and a quatrefoil inlay are attached to the cover . The medallions show the evangelist symbols , the middle quatrefoil the Lamb of God with cross staff and gospel book.

Ivory relief

Ivory tablet

The central ivory panel (17.6 × 11.3 cm) is framed by an ornamental frame. It is divided into three zones and shows a cycle of salvation history : Below you can see Maria in childbed with the midwife Salome , the child in the manger with ox and donkey . The middle zone shows Christ on the cross between the two thieves . The ascension of Christ is shown above. This picture mediates at the same time to the picture above the frame in which Christ can be seen as enthroned ruler of the world ( Pantocrator ). The four evangelists are placed in the corners of the relief .

The ivory was probably made in Cologne based on a somewhat older model from a workshop in Liège .

classification

The design of the front cover goes back to late antique and Carolingian five-part polyptychs such as that of the Lorsch Gospels from the early ninth century. These models worked well into the Ottonian - Salic period.

The place of origin of the binding is unclear, the literature is considering a production in Essen itself, but also an origin in Cologne , to which Theophanu had close connections, where goldsmiths' workshops are documented.

literature

Georg Humann : The works of art of the cathedral church to eat. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1904, pp. 218-250.
Heinz Köhn: The Essen Minster Treasure. An introduction. Essen 1953, pp. 28-32.
Leonhard Küppers , Paul Mikat : The Essen Minster Treasure. Fredebeul & Koenen, Essen 1966, pp. 61-67.
Klaus Gereon Beuckers : The Ezzonen and their foundations. An investigation into foundation activities in the 11th century. Lit-Verlag, Münster 1993, ISBN 3-89473-953-3 , pp. 94-101.
Berit H. Gass: The Theophanu Gospels in the Essen Cathedral Treasury (Hs. 3). In: Birgitta Falk, Thomas Schilp, Michael Schlagheck (eds.): "... how gold shines in the eyes". Treasures from the Essen women's foundation (= Essen research on the women's foundation. Vol. 5). Klartext-Verlag, Essen 2007, ISBN 978-3-89861-786-4 , pp. 169-189.
Birgitta Falk (Ed.): Gold before black. The Essen Cathedral Treasure at Zollverein . Klartext Verlag, Essen 2008, ISBN 978-3-8375-0050-9 , p. 82 (cover), 182 (handwriting) (= Birgitta Falk (Ed.): Der Essener Domschatz. Klartext-Verlag, Essen 2009, ISBN 978 -3-8375-0200-8 , pp. 82, 182).
Sonja Hermann: The inscriptions of the city of Essen (= The German inscriptions , Volume 81). Reichert, Wiesbaden 2011, ISBN 978-3-89500-823-8 , pp. 39–41 No. 20 Taf. IV – V.
Birgitta Falk: The story of the gospel book of the Essen abbess Theophanu . In: Westfalen 91, 2013, pp. 165–192.
Géza Jászai: Christ as New Moses? On the iconology of the binding of the gospel book of Abbess Theophanu in the Essen Cathedral Treasury. In: The Minster. Vol. 66, 2013, pp. 40-49.

Web links

Commons : Theophanu Gospels - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

Binding Theophanu Gospels on the pages of the Cathedral Treasury Essen
Theophanu Gospels in the Picture Index of Art and Architecture

Individual evidence

↑ Gass 2007, pp. 177-178.
↑ On the function of the objects in the Essen Easter liturgy: Klaus Gereon Beuckers: Liturgical ensembles in high medieval church treasures. Remarks based on the Essen Easter grave liturgy and its treasures. In: ... make the sacred visible. Cathedral treasures in the past, present and future. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-7954-2245-5 , pp. 83-106; Katharina Ulrike Mersch: Social dimensions of visual communication in high and late medieval women's communities. A comparison of pens, women's choirs and monasteries. V&R Unipress, Göttingen 2012, ISBN 978-3-89971-930-7 , pp. 55–65, both with further literature.
↑ Klaus Gereon Beuckers: The Ezzonen and their foundations. Lit-Verlag, Münster 1993, ISBN 3-89473-953-3 , p. 104.
↑ Hartmut Hoffmann : The scriptorium of Essen in the Ottonian and Early Salian times. In: Anton von Euw, Peter Schreiner (Ed.): Art in the Age of Empress Theophanu. Files of the International Colloquium Cologne 1991. Locher, Cologne 1993, ISBN 3-9801801-4-X , pp. 126–127; skeptical about this Katrinette Bodarwé: Sanctimoniales litteratae. Written form and education in the Ottonian women's communities Gandersheim, Essen and Quedlinburg. Aschendorff, Münster 2004, ISBN 3-402-06249-6 , pp. 145-165.
↑ Jászai 2013, pp. 40–49 with the older literature; P. 45 fig. 3 the iconographically closely related ivory tablet from Liège, around 1020/30; Brussels, Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire Inv. 1483.
↑ Birgitta Falk (ed.): The Essen Cathedral Treasure. Klartext-Verlag, Essen 2009, ISBN 978-3-8375-0200-8 , p. 82.

[1] Gass 2007, pp. 177-178.

[2] On the function of the objects in the Essen Easter liturgy: Klaus Gereon Beuckers: Liturgical ensembles in high medieval church treasures. Remarks based on the Essen Easter grave liturgy and its treasures. In: ... make the sacred visible. Cathedral treasures in the past, present and future. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-7954-2245-5 , pp. 83-106; Katharina Ulrike Mersch: Social dimensions of visual communication in high and late medieval women's communities. A comparison of pens, women's choirs and monasteries. V&R Unipress, Göttingen 2012, ISBN 978-3-89971-930-7 , pp. 55–65, both with further literature.

[3] Klaus Gereon Beuckers: The Ezzonen and their foundations. Lit-Verlag, Münster 1993, ISBN 3-89473-953-3 , p. 104.

[4] Hartmut Hoffmann : The scriptorium of Essen in the Ottonian and Early Salian times. In: Anton von Euw, Peter Schreiner (Ed.): Art in the Age of Empress Theophanu. Files of the International Colloquium Cologne 1991. Locher, Cologne 1993, ISBN 3-9801801-4-X , pp. 126–127; skeptical about this Katrinette Bodarwé: Sanctimoniales litteratae. Written form and education in the Ottonian women's communities Gandersheim, Essen and Quedlinburg. Aschendorff, Münster 2004, ISBN 3-402-06249-6 , pp. 145-165.

[5] Jászai 2013, pp. 40–49 with the older literature; P. 45 fig. 3 the iconographically closely related ivory tablet from Liège, around 1020/30; Brussels, Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire Inv. 1483.

[6] Birgitta Falk (ed.): The Essen Cathedral Treasure. Klartext-Verlag, Essen 2009, ISBN 978-3-8375-0200-8 , p. 82.