Hainricus Missal

Hainricus Missal

Man's wish to stay in the memory of coming generations through the production of special works of art is one of the oldest. To be able to own such significant treasures is surely one of the greatest joys one can have. The history of this manuscript begins in 1217, when it was created in Weingarten Abbey, where it would stay for almost 600 years before being acquired by the first Earl of Leicester. His grandson, however, had to sell the codex to the millionaire John Pierpont Morgan Jr. a hundred years later. The ambitious abbot Berthold, who had great appreciation for art, sponsored the scriptorium of the Benedictine Abbey of Weingarten. Besides the Berthold Sacramentary, it is this manuscript above all that has caused the lasting fame of the great Weingarten school: the Hainricus Missal. Even so, the secret of Hainricus and his role in the production of the codex remain unexplained. According to the chronicle of the Weingarten Abbey, three monks carried this name – which one of them now is the Hainricus eternalized on the silver plate on the binding?

A Highlight of German Romanesque

Five magnificent full-page miniatures, two full-page ornamented initials, twenty-four calendar medallions, thirty-five narrative initials, twenty animal and scrollwork initials, and countless colored initials all executed in the highest perfection: this is the Hainricus Missal. The full-page miniatures, with fabulous frames carried out like panel paintings, captivate through their impressive monumentality. The initials present biblical episodes in a most lively manner. This high quality of decoration equals the precision with which the writing and neumes are carried out. Protagonists have overcome the rigor of their isolation and their emotions are within reach even though facial expressions and gestures are reduced to the basics. The Hainricus Master kicked off a great new artistic movement in the Weingarten scriptorium.