Sacramentary of Henry II

Sacramentary of Henry II

This splendid sacramentary was donated by the later Roman-German Emperor Henry II to the Bishopric of Bamberg, which he founded in 1007. The Sacramentary of Henry II was used during solemn church services in the cathedral there and was housed in the cathedral treasury up to the time of Secularization. Along with the neatly ornamental and lushly designed with gold calendar pages and texts of the Eucharistic prayers, the 14 picture pages account for the artistic value of this important work of Ottonian illumination.

A Royal Donor

The striking coronation picture makes the royal donation obvious at first glance: Henry was crowned by the saintly Bishops Ulrich and Emmermam and invested with the Imperial Regalia – the Holy Lance and the Imperial Sword. The throne picture shows the king in his full power and glory. Additionally, the author’s picture of Gregory the Great, the legendary author of the sacramentary, aligns another great name with the book. The fact that the latter Emperor Henry II is still described here as REX indicates that allow us to draw conclusions about the dating the manuscript. The codex must have been made before 1014, the year of the imperial coronation. The reason for the commission of such a magnificent royal work could be the founding of the Bishopric of Bamberg in 1007 by Heinrich himself. The king donated the sacramentary to the cathedral there, which was created in the scriptorium of St. Emmermam’s Abbey in Regensburg and was presumably intended originally for the cathedral in Regensburg.

A Masterpiece from the Bavarian Center of Illumination

One of the most important centers of illumination in southern Germany during the Ottonian Era was located in the Danube-city of Regensburg. The scriptorium of St. Emmermam, the monastery of which commanded comprehensive stocks of valuable manuscripts, produced superb works such as the Uta Codex and the Sacramentary of Henry II. The magnificent manuscript from the golden age of Regensburg illumination shines especially with respect to its rich pictorial decoration. A total of 14 picture pages – including the already mentioned coronation, throne, and author pictures – along with 12 calendar pages and 9 framed pages of text written in gold ink with the Eucharistic prayers unfold a splendor worthy of a royal donation. Broad decorative frames, delicate ornamentation, a variety of colorful geometric and floral patterns, and not least the valuable gold surfaces form the basis for the array of artistic skills that the illuminators exahusted. The image composition is guided by Carolingian models. The artistic adornment was completed with the countless large and small initials that embellish the pages of text.

The Valuable Binding

The pages of the magnificent manuscript are protected by a binding that is worthy of the contents of the book. Set in gold is an ivory relief, which is probably datable from shortly before manuscript. Thematically it had Christ’s crucifixion in the upper register and shows the scene of the women at his tomb. The backside of the binding was adorned with partly gilded silver work, which shows Pope Gregory the Great who was already depicted in the book. The valuable sacramentary was used for masses in the Bamberg cathedral on the highest holidays and was a part of the Bamberg cathedral treasury in the following centuries. In the course of Secularization, the book came to Munich in 1803 where it is housed today in the Bavarian State Library.