Coronation Gospel Book

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Silver binding of the coronation gospel, created by Hans von Reutlingen around 1500, kept in the Vienna treasury
Evangelist John (fol. 178 v )
Evangelist Matthew (fol. 15 r )

The coronation gospel or imperial gospel is a Carolingian illuminated manuscript that was created shortly before 800 at the so-called palace school of Charlemagne at the Aachen royal palace and was in the treasure of the Marienstift there , today's Aachen cathedral treasure , until 1794 . It is the main work of a group of manuscripts, which is named after it as the group of the Vienna Coronation Gospel .

The gospel book is illuminated with four full-page images of the evangelists and 16 canon tables . It was written in gold and silver inks on purple-stained parchment . Stylistically, the manuscripts of the “Group of the Vienna Coronation Gospel Gospels” have no forerunners in their time in Northern Europe. The virtuosity with which the late antique forms were realized must have been learned by the artists in Byzantium , perhaps also in Italy. In comparison with the works of the “Charlemagne Court School”, which operates at the same time and in the same place, which is also known as the “ Ada Group ” according to its guiding manuscript , the illuminations of the palace school lack in particular the horror vacui , the fear of the emptiness of the room . The moving figures of the evangelists are depicted in the postures of ancient philosophers. Their powerfully modeled bodies, airy and light-flooded landscapes as well as personifications and other classical motifs give the works of this group of manuscripts the atmospheric and illusionistic character of late antique book illumination .

During Charlemagne's lifetime , the group of the Vienna coronation evangelist seems to have been a relatively isolated special case of book illumination, which was overshadowed by the court school. After Karl's death, however, it was this painting school that exerted a much stronger influence on Carolingian book illumination than the Ada group.

According to legend, Otto III found. the magnificent manuscript at the opening of Charlemagne's grave in 1000. Since then, the manuscript of the manuscript group, which is also the most important artistically, has been part of the imperial insignia and the German kings swore the coronation oath on the gospel book. Around 1500 the book was provided with a precious cover made of gold-plated silver, a work by the Aachen goldsmith Hans von Reutlingen . During the First Coalition War , the Codex came from Aachen to Paderborn in 1794 and to Vienna in 1811 , where it is now in the Art History Museum in the Secular Treasury (Inv. XIII 18).

facsimile

In 2012, under the responsibility of Franz Kirchweger, the curator of the Secular Treasury, 333 facsimiles of the Gospel including the magnificent lids were produced.

literature

  • Ernst Günther Grimme (text), Ann Bredol-Lepper (recordings): The great centuries of Aachen goldsmithing (= Aachener Kunstblätter. H. 26, ISSN  0515-0612 ). Verlag des Aachener Museumsverein, Aachen 1962, pp. 104-107 (book cover).
  • Ernst Günther Grimme (text), Ann Münchow (recordings): The Aachen Cathedral Treasure (= Aachener Kunstblätter. H. 42). Schwann, Düsseldorf 1973, pp. 10-11 No. 5.
  • Florentine Mütherich , Joachim E. Gaehde: Carolingian book painting. Prestel, Munich 1979, ISBN 3-7913-0395-3 , pp. 46-51.
  • Hans Holländer : The emergence of Europe. In: Middle Ages (= Bels style history. Vol. 2). Study edition. Belser, Stuttgart 1999, pp. 153-384.
  • Ingo F. Walther, Norbert Wolf : Codices illustres. The most beautiful illuminated manuscripts in the world. 400 to 1600. Taschen, Köln et al. 2005, ISBN 3-8228-4747-X , pp. 78–79.
  • Fabrizio Crivello (Ed.): The Coronation Gospel Book of the Holy Roman Empire. Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum Secular Treasury Inv.-No. XIII 18th interim commentary on the facsimile edition. Facsimile-Verlag, Gütersloh et al. 2012, ISBN 978-3-577-12943-5 .
  • Fabrizio Crivello: Viennese Coronation Gospel. In: Peter van den Brink, Sarvenaz Ayooghi (ed.): Charlemagne - Charlemagne. Karl's art. Catalog of the special exhibition Karls Kunst from June 20 to September 21, 2014 in the Center Charlemagne , Aachen. Sandstein, Dresden 2014, ISBN 978-3-95498-093-2 , pp. 238-240 (with further literature).
  • Fabrizio Crivello: The Vienna Coronation Gospel and the group of related manuscripts. In: Peter van den Brink, Sarvenaz Ayooghi (ed.): Charlemagne - Charlemagne. Karl's art. Catalog of the special exhibition Karls Kunst from June 20 to September 21, 2014 in the Center Charlemagne , Aachen. Sandstein, Dresden 2014, ISBN 978-3-95498-093-2 , pp. 154-169.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Holländer, p. 249.
  2. ↑ The German emperors swore by this book in FAZ of December 2, 2012, p. Z3.

Web links

Commons : Coronation Gospel  - collection of images, videos, and audio files