Following up on the first part of this article about the Golden Codex of Echternach (Codex Aureus Epternacensis), here are the images related to the Gospels of Matthew and Mark; Luke and John will be in the third and final part. This manuscript, which was made at the abbey of Echternach circa 1030-50, has many things in common with other illuminated gospel books of the period, but also one rather unusual characteristic. The pictures of stories from the Gospel are not spread through the book, placed with the corresponding text, but grouped together in four sets of four pages each, one set before each Gospel, and arranged in bands. These images run in the chronological order of Our Lord’s life (roughly), and are taken from all four Gospels simultaneously, and are one of its most interesting features. The manuscript is now kept at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg, and may be viewed in full at the following link: https://dlib.gnm.de/item/Hs156142.
The beginning of a prologue to the Gospel of Matthew.
The beginning of the list of its chapters, according to the system of the
Eusebian canons (described in the previous article of this series.)
Each Gospel is also preceded by a pair of pages decorated with a reproduction of an extremely high quality textile of some sort.
The four pages of events of the life of Christ, before the text of the Gospel of Matthew itself. From top to bottom: the Annunciation and Visitation; the birth of Christ and the adoration of the shepherds; the Magi before King Herod.
Second page: the adoration of the Magi; the Magi are warned in a dream to return to their own country, and do so; the Presentation. Note that in the latter, the prophetess Anna is absent, and Simeon is not shown as an old man.
Third page: the dream of Joseph and the flight into Egypt; the Massacre of the Innocents; Christ in the synagogue at Nazareth (Luke 4, 14 sqq.) and His baptism.
Fourth page: the temptations of Christ; the calling of the first disciples; the calling of Levi, and the banquet in his house.
The portrait of St Matthew.
An inscription which explains that Matthew is symbolized by a man because he recounts the deeds of Christ as a man.
The incipit of the Gospel...
and its first word.
Towards the end of the Gospels, the sections which occupy a very prominent place in the liturgy of Holy Week and Easter are noted with unusually large decorated letters; this is the V of “Vespere - on the evening”, the first word of the Gospel of the Easter vigil, Matthew 28, 1-7.
The explicit...
and the beginning of the introduction to St Mark.
The first word of the introduction, which is the name of the evangelist in Latin, Marcus.
The list of chapters.
The textile page before the Gospel of Mark is by far the most elaborate of the four.
The first page of scenes from the life of Christ: the wedding at Cana; the healing of the first leper and of the paralytic; the healing of the blind man by the roadside, and Christ speaking with the mother of James and John.
Second page: the expulsion of the money-changers from the temple, and healing of the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda; the multiplication of the loaves and fishes; the episode of the demoniac and the Gadarene swine.
Third page: the discourse with the Samaritan woman, and the woman caught in adultery; the healing of the two blind men, and the raising of Lazarus; the paralytic lowered through the roof, and the healing of St Peter’s mother-in-law.
Fourth page: the healing of the woman with the issue of blood, and the raising of the son of the widow of Naim; the healing of the man with dropsy, and the calming of the sea of Galilee (note the delightfully fanciful way of depicting the winds as monsters); the episode of the ten lepers, and the Samaritan who returns to give thanks.
The portrait of St Mark.
An inscription which explains why Mark is symbolized by a lion.
The beginning of the Gospel...
and the first word.
The beginning of the Passion; Mark’s is the longest of the four in proportion to its Gospel as a whole.
The Gospel of Easter Sunday
The Gospel of the Ascension
