An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is decorated with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers and liturgical books such as psalters and courtly literature, the practice continued into secular texts from the 13th century onward and typically include proclamations, enrolled bills, laws, charters, inventories, and deeds.
The FirstBible of Charles the Bald, also known as the Vivian Bible, is a Carolingian-era Bible commissioned by Count Vivian of Tours in 845, the lay abbot of Saint-Martin de Tours, and presented to Charles the Bald in 846 on a visit to the church, as shown in the presentation miniature at the end of the book. It is 495 mm by 345 mm and has 423 vellum folia. It is now in the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris.
The Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram is a 9th-century illuminated Gospel Book. It takes its name from Saint Emmeram's Abbey, where it was for most of its history and is lavishly illuminated. The cover of the codex is decorated with gems and relief figures in gold, and can be precisely dated to 870, and is an important example of Carolingian art, as well as one of very few surviving treasure bindings of this date.
The St Augustine Gospels is an illuminated Gospel Book which dates from the 6th century and has been in the Parker Library in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge since 1575. It was made in Italy and has been in England since fairly soon after its creation; by the 16th century it had probably already been at Canterbury for almost a thousand years. It has 265 leaves measuring about 252 x 196 mm, and is not entirely complete, in particular missing pages with miniatures.
The Godescalc Evangelistary, Godescalc Sacramentary, Godescalc Gospels, or Godescalc Gospel Lectionary is an illuminated manuscript in Latin made by the Frankish scribe Godescalc and today kept in the Bibliothèque nationale de France. It was commissioned by the Carolingian king Charlemagne and his wife Hildegard on October 7, 781 and completed on April 30, 783. The Evangelistary is the earliest known manuscript produced at the scriptorium in Charlemagne's Court School in Aachen. The manuscript was intended to commemorate Charlemagne's march to Italy, his meeting with Pope Adrian I, and the baptism of his son Pepin. The crediting of the work to Godescalc and the details of Charlemagne's march are contained in the manuscript's dedication poem.
The Syriac Bible of Paris is an illuminated Bible written in Syriac. It dates to 6th or 7th century. It is believed to have been made in northern Mesopotamia. The manuscript has 246 extant folios. Large sections of text and the accompanying illustrations are missing. The folios are 312 by 230 mm. For reasons of economy, the text is written in three columns.
Carolingian art comes from the Frankish Empire in the period of roughly 120 years from about 780 to 900—during the reign of Charlemagne and his immediate heirs—popularly known as the Carolingian Renaissance. The art was produced by and for the court circle and a group of important monasteries under Imperial patronage; survivals from outside this charmed circle show a considerable drop in quality of workmanship and sophistication of design. The art was produced in several centres in what are now France, Germany, Austria, northern Italy and the Low Countries, and received considerable influence, via continental mission centres, from the Insular art of the British Isles, as well as a number of Byzantine artists who appear to have been resident in Carolingian centres.
British Library, Egerton MS 609 is a Breton Gospel Book from the late or third quarter of the ninth century. It was created in France, though the exact location is unknown. The large decorative letters which form the beginning of each Gospel are similar to the letters found in Carolingian manuscripts, but the decoration of these letters is closer to that found in insular manuscripts, such as the Book of Kells and the Lindisfarne Gospels. However, the decoration in the Breton Gospel Book is simpler and more geometric in form than that found in the Insular manuscripts. The manuscript contains the Latin text of St Jerome's letter to Pope Damasus, St. Jerome's commentary on Matthew, and the four Gospels, along with prefatory material and canon tables. This manuscript is part of the Egerton Collection in the British Library.
The Vienna Coronation Gospels, also known simply as the Coronation Gospels, is a late 8th century illuminated gospel book produced at the court of Charlemagne in Aachen. It was used by the future emperor at his coronation on Christmas Day 800, when he placed three fingers of his right hand on the first page of the Gospel of Saint John and took his oath. Traditionally, it is considered to be the same manuscript that was found in the tomb of Charlemagne when it was opened in the year 1000 by Emperor Otto III. The Coronation Evangeliar cover was created by Hans von Reutlingen, c. 1500. The Coronation Evangeliar is part of the Imperial Treasury (Schatzkammer) in the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria.
The Grandes Chroniques de France is a vernacular royal compilation of the history of the Kingdom of France, most manuscripts of which are luxury copies that are heavily illuminated. Copies were produced between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries, the text being extended at intervals to cover recent events. It was first compiled in the reign of Saint Louis, who wished to preserve the history of the Franks, from the coming of the Trojans to his own time, in an official chronography whose dissemination was tightly controlled. It was continued under his successors until completed in 1461. It covers the Merovingian, Carolingian, and Capetian dynasties of French kings, with illustrations depicting personages and events from virtually all their reigns.
The Evangeliary or Book of the Gospels is a liturgical book containing only those portions of the four gospels which are read during Mass or in other public offices of the Church. The corresponding terms in Latin are Evangeliarium and Liber evangeliorum.
The Gospels of Otto III is considered a superb example of Ottonian art because of the scope, planning, and execution of the work. The book has 276 parchment pages and has twelve canon tables, a double page portrait of Otto III, portraits of the four evangelists, and 29 full page miniatures illustrating scenes from the New Testament. The cover is the original, with a tenth-century carved Byzantine ivory inlay representing the Dormition of the Virgin. Produced at the monastery at Reichenau Abbey in about 1000 CE, the manuscript is an example of the highest quality work that was produced over 150 years at the monastery.
The Grandes Heures de Rohan is an illuminated manuscript book of hours, painted by the anonymous artist known as the Rohan Master, probably between 1418 and 1425, in the Gothic style. It contains the usual offices, prayers and litanies in Latin, along with supplemental texts, decorated with 11 full page, 54 half page, and 227 small miniatures, decorated with tempera paints and gold leaf. The book margins are decorated with Old Testament miniatures with captions in Old French, in the style of a Bible moralisée. The full page illuminations are renowned for the highly emotional and dramatic portrayal of the agonies of Christ and the grief of the Virgin. According to Millard Meiss, "The Rohan Master cared less about what people do than what they feel. Whereas his great predecessors excelled in the description of the novel aspects of the natural world, he explored the realm of human feeling." Meiss concludes that the Rohan Master was the "greatest expressionist in 15th century France." The manuscript is currently housed in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, France.
The Ebbo Gospels is an early Carolingian illuminated Gospel book known for its illustrations that appear agitated. The book was produced in the ninth century at the Benedictine Abbaye Saint-Pierre d’Hautvillers, by Ebbo, the archbishop of Reims. Its style influenced Carolingian art and the course of medieval art. The Gospels contains the four gospels by Saint Mark, Saint Luke, Saint John, and Saint Matthew, along with their illustrations containing symbolism and iconography. The evangelists illustrations reflect an expressive art style called Emotionalism, that has a stylistic relationship with the Utrecht Psalter and the Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram. In comparison to the Utrecht Psalter and the Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram, the Ebbo Gospels demonstrates very energetic lines and dimension, in contrast to the Classical Roman art style of the past.
The British Library is a research library in London that is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British Library receives copies of all books produced in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including a significant proportion of overseas titles distributed in the UK. The Library is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
The Stavelot Bible is a Romanesque illuminated manuscript Bible in two volumes datable to 1093–1097. It was produced for, but not necessarily in, the Benedictine monastery of Stavelot, in the Principality of Stavelot-Malmedy of modern Belgium, and required four years to complete. It was probably the main liturgical Bible of the monastery, kept on the altar of the abbey church or in the sacristy, rather than in the library. It is one of the most important Mosan manuscripts of the last quarter of the 11th century, and shares some of its scribes and artists with the earlier Lobbes Bible and a manuscript of Josephus, in all of which a monk called Goderannus was at least a scribe, and possibly the main artist. For many years it was in the Royal Library at Bamberg, until it was acquired by the British Library in London, where it is catalogued as Add MS 28106-28107. The pages measure 581 x 390 mm, and there are 228 and 240 leaves in the two volumes.
The Harley Golden Gospels, British Library, Harley MS 2788, is a Carolingian illuminated manuscript Gospel book produced in about 800–825, probably in Aachen, Germany. It is one of the manuscripts attributed to the "Ada School", which is named after the Ada Gospels. It has four pairs of full-page Evangelist portraits and illuminated "Incipit" pages, canon tables, and other illuminations. As with other examples of the Codex Aureus, the text is written in gold ink.
A presentation miniature or dedication miniature is a miniature painting often found in illuminated manuscripts, in which the patron or donor is presented with a book, normally to be interpreted as the book containing the miniature itself. The miniature is thus symbolic, and presumably represents an event in the future. Usually it is found at the start of the volume, as a frontispiece before the main text, but may also be placed at the end, as in the Vivian Bible, or at the start of a particular text in a collection.
Byzantine illuminated manuscripts were produced across the Byzantine Empire, some in monasteries but others in imperial or commercial workshops. Religious images or icons were made in Byzantine art in many different media: mosaics, paintings, small statues and illuminated manuscripts. Monasteries produced many of the illuminated manuscripts devoted to religious works using the illustrations to highlight specific parts of text, a saints' martyrdom for example, while others were used for devotional purposes similar to icons. These religious manuscripts were most commissioned by patrons and were used for private worship but also gifted to churches to be used in services.
The Emperor's Bible, also known as Codex Caesareus, Codex Caesareus Upsaliensis or the Goslar Gospels, is an 11th-century illuminated manuscript currently in Uppsala University Library, Sweden. Despite its name, it is not a Bible but a Gospel Book. The book was made in the scriptorium of Echternach Abbey, and is one of four preserved large Gospel Books made there during the 11th century. It was commissioned by Emperor Henry III and donated by him to Goslar Cathedral, where it remained until the Thirty Years' War. It was then lost for about 100 years. Its previous richly decorated cover was also lost at this time at the latest. The book later appeared again in the possession of Swedish diplomat and civil servant Gustaf Celsing the Elder. At the death of his son, it was acquired by Uppsala University.
