 Jeweled upper cover of the Lindau Gospels, ca. 880
Court School of Charles the Bald
Lindau Gospels, in Latin
Switzerland, Abbey of St. Gall, late ninth century
350 x 275 mm
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1901; MS M. 1
See CORSAIR catalog record for this item »
A large gold repoussé Crucifixion dominates this jeweled
cover. Surrounding Christ are ten mourning figures: below the
arms of the cross are the Virgin and John and probably Mary
Magdalene and Mary, the wife of Cleopas. The cover's architectural
features allude to the jeweled Heavenly Jerusalem,
the city made possible by Christ's sacrifice. This cover and that
of the Codex Aureus from St. Emmeram in Regensburg, now
in Munich, are the two finest Carolingian jeweled bindings.
Charles the Bald was the grandson of Charlemagne; the cover
may have been made at the Royal Abbey of St. Denis, where
Charles was secular abbot from 867 until his death in 877.
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