Archbishop Egbert of Trier commissions the celebrated…

Archbishop Egbert of Trier commissions the celebrated illuminated manuscript known as the “Codex Egberti,” around 980.

It contains fifty scenes from the life of Christ closely resembling an Early Christian model and, as is typical of most of the splendidly decorated manuscripts produced at various monasteries in Ottonian Germany, features a portrait of its ecclesiastical donor.

The expressive, firmly delineated figures, characterized by intense glances and gestures, are set against a brilliant gold ground.

The foliate initials employ highly burnished gold leaf. (The “Codex Egberti” belongs to a large and distinguished group of manuscripts—chiefly gospel lectionaries and sacramentaries used in church services—traditionally associated with the German Abbey of Reichenau.)