Passau Gospel

This manuscript Gospel book is believed to have been produced around 1150 in Passau, Germany. This codex and the Gospel of Passau (also in the World Digital Library) are outstanding manuscripts, isolated within the manuscript production of that time and place. The Gospel book opens with eight pages of canon tables, which are very elaborate. Four full-page pictures of the sitting Evangelists appear as three-dimensional. In the 15th century the work was bound in covers of gold-plated brass. The front cover is dominated by the figure of Madonna on the throne; her head is made from rock crystal. In the corners of the front cover were added medallions with the symbols of the Evangelists engraved below glass. The manuscript belonged to the monastery of Saint Nicholas in Passau and was transferred to Munich in 1803 or 1804. (World Digital Library)