Gospels of Otto III

The Gospel Book of Otto III. or Gospels of Henry II is a work of Ottonian book illumination and is one of the major works of this period. The manuscript was probably made around the year 1000 on behalf of Otto III. (Reigned 983-1002 ) or its successor Henry II (reigned 1002-1024 ) in the monastery of Reichenau and belongs to the so-called Liuthar group.

History

The Gospel Book belonged until 1803 Bamberg Cathedral and came in the course of the secularization of the Bavarian State Library in Munich, where it is kept today under the signature Clm 4453. Together with nine other works of the Reichenau School, the manuscript was taken in 2003 by the UNESCO list of world cultural heritage list.

Handwriting

Description

The parchment manuscript consists of 278 sheet ( I 277 ) in the format 33.5 x 24 cm. The book decoration consists of a double-sided and 34 full-page miniatures, twelve canon tables, and four full-page initial pages.

Classification

Among the Reichenau manuscripts it is near the Bamberger Egberti Henry II, the Wolfenbütteler Egberti and the Hildesheim Orationale especially.

Cover

The book cover is at the front decorated with a Byzantine ivory relief depicting the death of Mary and 188 gems.