Created at the behest of Abbot Desiderius (1058–1087) from Monte Cassino: a Romanesque art treasure and one of the last scrolls ever made
Barberini Exultet Roll
Montecassino Abbey (Italy) — Around 1058

Barberini Exultet Roll
Montecassino Abbey (Italy) — Around 1058
This rare scroll is one of the most beautiful illuminated manuscripts of the Romanesque period
Commissioned by Abbot Desiderius (1058–1087), who made Monte Cassino a center of culture
It contains one of the most beautiful miniatures of the period enriched with the finest gold leaf

Barberini Exultet Roll
Beekeeping
According to a legend by Virgil, bees were born of virgin birth. They were later adopted by Christians as a symbol of the Virgin Mary and were respected for their natural industriousness. Bees were cultivated by monks for honey and candle wax, which was important for the exhibition of the Exultet to the faithful. This page depicts the entire beekeeping process and here we see bees gathering honey from flowers while beekeepers harvest honeycomb with a knife and a smoker to calm the bees.
Barberini Exultet Roll
- Barberini Exultet-Rolle
Short Description
The Barberini Exultet Roll was created in 1058 at the commission of the Abbot Desiderius in Southern Italy. The rare scroll is considered to be among the most beautiful illuminated manuscripts of the Romanesque period. The work contains the text and melody of the exultet, a ceremonial doxology for the Easter Mass. Golden decorative initials and colored illustrations with gold inlay adorn the manuscript.
Barberini Exultet Roll
The exultet is the ceremonial doxology sung in the Christian liturgy during the celebration of the Easter Vigil, during which Christ is lauded as the Light of the World and his resurrection is placed in association with the plan of salvation laid out in the Old Testament. Some of the extremely rare scrolls, which contain the text and the melody of the exultet, arose between the 10th and 13th centuries. An especially valuable example thereof is the Barberini Exultet Roll. The work arose from the commission of Abbot Desiderius (1058–1087), under whose chairmanship the monastery of Monte Cassino became a leading cultural center of Italy. Ten attractive miniatures illustrate the doxology. The script was embellished with 23 golden decorative initials.
Rare Documents
The exultet rolls originate from Southern Italy, most of which were written and illustrated at the monastery of Monte Cassino. The format of a scroll was intentionally chosen, although codices had become the predominant form for holding manuscripts since the 4th century. The exultet was to be read from the so-called Ambon, a special feature of Italian church architecture. The Ambon was a raised position for the speaker, which was replaced by the pulpit in later church construction. The priests could read the exultet from their position and lower it down from the Abon so that the visitors to the mass could see the beautifully decorated scroll.
A Masterwork of its Time
The Barberini Exultet Roll contains one of the most beautiful miniatures of the Romanesque period. The fresh and unadulterated depictions show influences from Byzantine and Ottonian book illumination. Vivid colors and the application of the finest gold lend expressive power to the pictures. The scenes, which were to be sung in the ceremonial Easter Mass, were illustrated in impressive simplicity. One of the most important feasts of the Christian church was appropriately appreciated with this valuable document.
Codicology
- Alternative Titles
- Barberini Exultet-Rolle
- Size / Format
- 5 parts of scroll / 29.0 × 64.0 - 86.0 cm
- Origin
- Montecassino Abbey (Italy)
- Date
- Around 1058
- Epochs
- Style
- Genre
- Language
- Illustrations
- 10 miniatures and 23 initials

Barberini Exultet-Rolle
Public Reading of a Scroll
Manuscripts often have so-called “presentation miniatures” in which the manuscript itself is depicted, usually being presented by the artist or scribe to the patron, but sometimes by the patron to a saint, the Virgin Mary, or even Jesus Christ himself. This miniature shows the scroll as it was intended to be used: before a mass.
Tonsured monks have assembled and a censer full of incense is being swung with the officiating priest in the middle of the scene. He is standing at an elaborately patterned and colored Ambon, a raised pulpit unique to Italian churches allowing the scroll to be viewed as it is read and unfurled. Reddish orange, yellow, and dark blue color the scene in typical Romanesque style.
1 available facsimile edition(s) of „Barberini Exultet Roll“
Barberini Exultet Rolle
- Publisher
- Belser Verlag – Zurich, 1988
- Limited Edition
- 980 copies
- Binding
- Case covered in linen
- Commentary
-
1 volume (48 pages) by Guglielmo Cavallo and Lucinia Speciale
Language: German - More Information
- Reproduction of the entire original document as detailed as possible (scope, format, colors). The binding may not correspond to the original or current document binding.
Matching Works
Berthold Sacramentary
Created in Weingarten Monastery, the center of 13th century German book illumination: golden miniatures and uniquely fanciful initials in the transition from Romanesque to Gothic
Experience MoreMissale Pontificis - Christmas Missal of Alexander VI
Still used at Christmas in St. Peter's Basilica: a Renaissance masterpiece for the famous Borgia Pope
Experience MoreMatching Background Articles
Music / Poetry
Do you feel elevated by monastic chant? Are you a sucker for chivalric love poetry? Music and poetry were among the most...Experience moreRomanesque
The first international European artistic movement was vigorous, innovative, and yet coherent, seamlessly blending...Experience more11th Century
The beginning of the High Middle Ages and the emergence of Romanesque art: witness the Byzantines at their zenith, the...Experience more
- Treatises / Secular Books
- Apocalypses / Beatus
- Astronomy / Astrology
- Bestiaries
- Bibles / Gospels
- Chronicles / History / Law
- Geography / Maps
- Saints' Lives
- Islam / Oriental
- Judaism / Hebrew
- Single Leaf Collections
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Literature / Poetry
- Liturgical Manuscripts
- Medicine / Botany / Alchemy
- Music
- Mythology / Prophecies
- Psalters
- Other Religious Books
- Games / Hunting
- Private Devotion Books
- Other Genres
- Aboca Museum
- Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA)
- Aldo Ausilio Editore - Bottega d’Erasmo
- Alecto Historical Editions
- Ars Magna
- ArtCodex
- AyN Ediciones
- Bärenreiter-Verlag
- Belser Verlag
- Belser Verlag / WK Wertkontor
- Bernardinum Wydawnictwo
- BiblioGemma
- Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Vaticanstadt, Vaticanstadt)
- Bibliotheca Palatina Faksimile Verlag
- Bibliotheca Rara
- CAPSA, Ars Scriptoria
- Circulo Cientifico
- Club Bibliófilo Versol
- CM Editores
- Collezione Apocrifa Da Vinci
- Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses
- Coron Verlag
- De Agostini/UTET
- DIAMM
- E. Schreiber Graphische Kunstanstalten
- Ediciones Boreal
- Ediciones Grial
- Edilan
- Editalia
- Edition Leipzig
- Edition Libri Illustri
- Editiones Reales Sitios S. L.
- Editions Medicina Rara
- Editorial Mintzoa
- Egeria, S.L.
- Extraordinary Editions
- Facsimile Editions Ltd.
- Facsimilia Art & Edition Ebert KG
- Faksimile Verlag
- Franco Cosimo Panini Editore
- Fundación Hullera Vasco-Leonesa
- Giunti Editore
- Graffiti
- Grafica European Center of Fine Arts
- Helikon
- Herder Verlag
- Hes & De Graaf Publishers
- Hugo Schmidt Verlag
- Idion Verlag
- Il Bulino, edizioni d'arte
- Imago
- Insel Verlag
- Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana - Treccani
- Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato
- Johnson Reprint Corporation
- Kaydeda Ediciones
- La Meta Editore
- Leo S. Olschki
- Libreria Musicale Italiana
- Lumen Artis
- M. Moleiro Editor
- Manuscriptum
- Millennium Liber
- Nova Charta
- Orbis Mediaevalis
- Orbis Pictus
- Österreichische Staatsdruckerei
- Patrimonio Ediciones
- PIAF
- Popyläen Verlag
- Prestel Verlag
- Priuli & Verlucca, editori
- Pro Sport Verlag
- Pytheas Books
- Quaternio Verlag Luzern
- Reales Sitios
- Reichert Verlag
- Roberto Vattori Editore
- Salerno Editrice
- Schöck ArtPrint Kft.
- Scrinium
- Scripta Maneant
- Scriptorium
- Siloé, arte y bibliofilia
- Styria Verlag
- Tempus Libri
- Testimonio Compañía Editorial
- The Clear Vue Publishing Partnership Limited
- The Facsimile Codex
- The Folio Society
- Tip.Le.Co
- TouchArt
- Trident Editore
- Vallecchi
- Van Wijnen
- Vicent Garcia Editores
- Wiener Mechitharisten-Congregation (Wien, Österreich)
- Yushodo