Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 15903

Saint Peter Pericopes from Saint Erentrud Facsimile Edition

Used and new from

7,500

approx US$ 8,169


Our price

More Buying Choices

Request Info

Featuring an extensive pictorial cycle, the Saint Peter Pericopes from Saint Erentrud is an exceptional liturgical manuscript created around 1150 that showcases the height of Romanesque illumination in Salzburg. Following an index of pericopes set within arcades of gold and silver, the manuscript contains Gospel pericopes—excerpts from the biblical accounts of the life of Christ. Fifty-five of these are introduced by miniatures with scenes on New Testament themes and images of saints.

Framed with ornate decorative or architectural motifs and set on burnished gold grounds, the manuscript's miniatures offer luxurious visualizations of their accompanying texts and the saints being commemorated.

Golden Backgrounds for Sacred Scenes

The gold leaf backgrounds of the manuscript's miniatures impart grandeur to all the scenes, whatever the subject. In the miniature of Christ Healing a Leper, for example, the leper—despite his nakedness, countless sores, and unruly hair—is imparted a certain dignity as a figure silhouetted against the shimmering ground (fol. 24r).

Saint Rupert Pictured

The manuscript is known as the "Saint Peter Pericopes" because of its possible origin at Saint Peter's at Salzburg, a Benedictine monastic community reestablished by the missionary Saint Rupert, who served as abbot, in the eighth century. Rupert is one of the few non-biblical saints pictured in the manuscript: he is shown in liturgical vestments flanked by monks (fol. 32v).

Golden Letters for Precious Words

The large and professional Caroline Minuscule—a late example of this script—was probably written by a single scribe. Display capitals in red and blue are used for headings, and the first few mentions of the Virgin Mary in the text are written in capitals in alternating black and red ink.

Eighty-four painted initials and one monogram introduce the readings. Set on blue grounds and composed of elegant scrollwork in gleaming gold, the letters often include flowers and sometimes incorporate birds. The initial I introducing the pericope taken from the opening of Saint John's Gospel is a notable exception: a stately eagle-headed man holding a scroll—the symbol of the evangelist—forms the elongated letter (fol. 10v).

Founded by Saint Rupert

The Benedictine convent of Saint Erentrud auf dem Nonnberg was founded by Saint Rupert. His niece was its first abbess and the eventual namesake of the institution. A late thirteenth- or early fourteenth-century inscription in the manuscript (fol. 104v) attests that the book was in the convent at least from this point. Nothing in the book's contents, however, suggests that the codex was made onsite or originally destined for the convent.

The manuscripts owned by the convent were given to the Hofbibliothek in Munich in 1815. The holdings of the Hofbibliothek formed the foundation collection of the Hof- und Staatsbibliothek in 1829, renamed the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in 1919.

We have 1 facsimile edition of the manuscript "Saint Peter Pericopes from Saint Erentrud": Perikopenbuch aus St. Erentrud in Salzburg facsimile edition, published by Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA), 2016

Request Info / Price
Manuscript book description compiled by Erene Rafik Morcos.
Please Read
International social justice movements and the debates that ensued prompted us to start considering the contents of our website from a critical point of view. This has led us to acknowledge that most of the texts in our database are Western-centered. We have asked the authors of our content to be aware of the underlying racial and cultural bias in many scholarly sources, and to try to keep in mind multiple points of view while describing the manuscripts. We also recognize that this is yet a small, first step towards fighting inequality.

If you notice any trace of racist or unjust narratives in our communications, please help us be part of the change by letting us know.

Perikopenbuch aus St. Erentrud in Salzburg

Graz: Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA), 2016

  • Commentary (German, English) by Pippal, Martina
  • Limited Edition: 480 copies
  • Full-size color reproduction of the entire original document, Saint Peter Pericopes from Saint Erentrud: the facsimile attempts to replicate the look-and-feel and physical features of the original document; pages are trimmed according to the original format; the binding might not be consistent with the current document binding.

The facsimile edition of the St Peter Pericopes is published as vol. CXXII of the Codices selecti series.

In the commentary volume to this edition, in addition to an in-depth art historic analysis the author focuses on the relationship between pictures and text and on the environment in which the book was made, both in terms of history and the history of ideas.

Binding

Copy of the current original binding from the 16th century: leather cover with a reproduction of the original tooling. Hand-sewn on four genuine raised cords, hand-stitched head and tail bands, metal clasps.

Used and new from

€ 7,500

approx US$ 8,169


Our Price

More Buying Choices

Request Info