Deluxe facsimile edition Codex Egbert Stadtbibliothek Trier, Ms. 24

First complete facsimile edition of Codex Egbert , a monument of Ottonian book illumination. This pericope, consisting of readings from the four evangelists and presenting the earliest picture cycle of the life the Christ was created around 983 for Egbert, the chancellor of Kaiser Otto II. Limited edition of 980 copies in the original format (21 x 27 cm, 330 pages) published by Faksimile Verlag Luzern, 2005. Commentary by Gunther Franz, Franz J. Ronig, Robert Fuchs, Doris Oltrogge and Sif Dagmar Dornheim. Binding in green silk with  silver plated metal work, in Ottonian  style. Eu 6,500.  Please call for special OMI price.

Archbishop Egbert  lived during one of the most creative periods in the history of art, at a time when exceptional centers of artistic creativity flourished in the scriptoriums of the monasteries. The most famous of them was the Benedictine Abbey at Reichenau. These artistic monks of Bodensee developed a style which gave Ottonian book illumination its distinctive quality. The monks succeeded in creating a breathtaking synthesis of northern and southern art forms, a vocabulary where the rich legacy of Carolingian tradition is combined with elements of insular painting or Byzantine art. The form reaches it fruition in Codex Egbert, a pericope (evangelistarium) containing 60 illuminated pages and over 240 decorated initials. The rich series of miniatures for the life and miracles of Christ as well as the portraits of the evangelists and Archbishop Egbert, executed in gold, silver and precious colors, still grab the viewer today through their calmness and tranquility. Each miniature is filled with great spiritual strength. The unity of the picture cycle shows conclusively that there was one master responsible for the artistic conception of the book. Art historians have identified him as the "Gregory Master", a monk associated with a collection of letters of Pope Gregory the Great. OMI - Old Manuscripts & Incunabula PO Box 6019 FDR Station tel/fax 212/ 758-1946 • http://www.omifacsimiles.com • immels@earthlink.net