Weingarten Gospel Lectionary

This gospel lectionary was created around 1130. A lectionary is a liturgical book, which—in contrast to usual gospel books containing the full texts of the gospels—comprises only those parts of the gospels that are used for the liturgical readings during the ecclesiastical year, presented in chronological order. The book features two pen-and-ink-drawn initials, several decorated initials in gold and silver ink, and four full-page miniatures, each showing one of the four Evangelists. The style and coloring of the miniatures follow a Bavarian tradition of book illumination, the so-called Bavarian monastic school. This manuscript, intended for Altomünster Abbey in southern Bavaria, was most likely executed in the workshop of the Benedictine abbey of Weingarten. (World Digital Library)