MINIATURIST, German
(active 1039-1040 in Echternach)

Gospel Lectionary of Henry III

1039-40
Manuscript (Ms. b. 21)
Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Bremen

The Ottonian emperors commissioned their manuscripts from many different places. The illustration from a Gospel Lectionary (folio 124v) was illuminated at Echternach Abbey. The picture shows the work taking place in the cloisters of the abbey, but note that only one of the two craftsmen is a monk. Perhaps lay scribes and artists were more common that we might have guessed.