The Petershausen Sacramentary is an

Ottonian The Ottonian dynasty (german: Ottonen) was a Saxon dynasty of German monarchs (919–1024), named after three of its kings and Holy Roman Emperors named Otto, especially its first Emperor Otto I. It is also known as the Saxon dynasty after the ...

illuminated manuscript of around 960–980, produced in the

scriptorium Scriptorium (), literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the writing, copying and illuminating of manuscripts commonly handled by monastic scribes. However, lay scribes an ...

Reichenau Abbey Reichenau Abbey was a Benedictine monastery on Reichenau Island (known in Latin as Augia Dives). It was founded in 724 by the itinerant Saint Pirmin, who is said to have fled Spain ahead of the Moorish invaders, with patronage that included Charl ...

and containing the

sacramentary In the Western Church of the Early and High Middle Ages, a sacramentary was a book used for liturgical services and the mass by a bishop or priest. Sacramentaries include only the words spoken or sung by him, unlike the missals of later centu ...

and

liturgical calendar The liturgical year, also called the church year, Christian year or kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in Christian churches that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be observed, and whi ...

. It is now held in the

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, B ...

library. The

miniature A miniature is a small-scale reproduction, or a small version. It may refer to: * Portrait miniature, a miniature portrait painting * Miniature art, miniature painting, engraving and sculpture * Miniature (chess), a masterful chess game or probl ...

on folio 40 originally opened the manuscript and has been the subject of much debate. It displays attributes of the Virgin Mary and Ecclesia (personifications of the church), but differs from usual representations of either. Her regalia does not follow Northern iconography, being closer to Roman depictions of the Maria Regina. Her necklace and earrings recall the prependoulia of Byzantine crowns, while her patterned tunic and mantle give the appearance of Byzantine silks. Consistent with earlier depictions of Byzantine empresses, interpreted the image as an "Imperial Virgin" and suggested it may have been inspired by

Theophanu Theophanu (; also ''Theophania'', ''Theophana'', or ''Theophano''; Medieval Greek ; AD 955 15 June 991) was empress of the Holy Roman Empire by marriage to Emperor Otto II, and regent of the Empire during the minority of their son, Emperor O ...

, the Byzantine princess who married

Otto II Otto II (955 – 7 December 983), called the Red (''der Rote''), was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto II was the youngest and sole surviving son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Ita ...

.Collins, p. 120

References

Bibliography

* * Florentine Mütherich, « Sakramentar aus Petershausen », ''Suevia Sacra. Frühe Kunst in Schwaben'', Augsburg 1973, S. 172 Nr. 161 Abb. 150. * Ludwig Schuba, « Reichenauer Texttradition im Petershausener Sakramentar ». In: ''Bibliothek und Wissenschaft'' Bd. 12, 1978, p. 115–140. * Anton von Euw, « Sakramentar aus Petershausen ». In: ''Vor dem Jahr 1000. Abendländische Buchkunst zur Zeit der Kaiserin Theophanu''. Schnütgen-Museum, Köln 1991, S. 122ff. Nr. 32. *http://diglit.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/sal9b/ {{Authority control Ottonian illuminated manuscripts 10th-century illuminated manuscripts Theophanu