Salzburg Pericopes

The Salzburg Pericopes stands in the tradition of Ottonian book art and in a row with the most important manuscripts of European illumination. It originated in the scriptorium of St. Peter’s Abbey in Salzburg at the time of Emperor Henry II and amazes to this day with its opulently artistic furnishings with gold. A variety of stylistic influences find expression in the masterful miniatures.

An Ostentatious Clerical Commission

Unlike the many magnificent manuscripts that originated from sovereign-commissioned works, the Salzburg Pericopes itself probably was a commission from the ranks of the clergy: for Hartwig von Ortenburg, Archbishop of Salzburg. A pericopes, with readings from the gospels for church festivals, was used for the solemn masses in the cathedral on high holidays. In terms of splendor and configuration, the Salzburg Pericopes is second to no other Ottonian manuscripts. It was taken to Paris in the 19th century as a spoil of war but nevertheless returned after the end of the Napoleonic rule, and so became a highlight of the manuscript collection of the Bavarian State Library in Munich, where it is housed today.

An Impressive Example of Salzburg Illumination

For the design of the Pericopes, the scriptorium of St. Peter’s Abbey in Salzburg, the oldest monastery in the German-speaking world, offered the archbishop everything of artistic value that it had to offer. Many artistic movements met one another in Salzburg, combining the best aspects in the work on the Salzburg Pericopes. Various different hands, which can be differentiated from one another by the miniatures and decorative initials, bespeak influences from Byzantine, Lombard, and western European illumination. Particularly noticeable is the stylistic affinity to the highly-prized book art of Regensburg with its bright color palette and characteristic head types. The 19 sometimes full-page miniatures, both the decorative pages and pictures of the Evangelists as well as the cycles of scenes from the New Testament, impress through their strict and exact composition. Complicated architectural borders surround elaborately composed scenes, which focus on the essentials, but nevertheless spare no decorative elements. The design of the backgrounds for the pictures with large gold surfaces is another prominent feature. The various artists working on the miniatures – all of them masters of their craft – slipped their own pictorial inventions in the design. So a completely new composition was sought for the famous depiction of the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, which simultaneously shows the storm and the calm afterward and amazes in its sophisticated simplicity.

A Splendid General Impression

Not only the miniatures, but also the numerous small and large initials contribute to the valuable artistic adornment of the Salzburg Pericopes. In particular the 70 embellished initials, partly adorned with gold, are second to none. The sumptuous general impression of the manuscript is completed through the binding of red leather, the front cover of which is adorned with 12 small ivory plates. These works of art are the product of southern French or northern Spanish works from the 11th century, therefore they fit chronologically with the Pericopes.