Stammheim Missal
'Artist/Maker: Unknown
Hildesheim, Germany (Place created)
Date: probably 1170s
Medium: Tempera colors, gold leaf, silver leaf, and ink on parchment bound between wood boards covered with alum tawed pigskin
Dimensions: Leaf: 28.2 × 18.9 cm (11 1/8 × 7 7/16 in.)
Containing the prayers said by the priest and the chants sung by the choir at Mass, the Stammheim Missal was produced in Lower Saxony around 1170 at Saint Michael's Abbey at Hildesheim, one of the most celebrated abbeys in medieval Germany. Bishop Bernward, who founded the monastery in 996 and had the abbey church built, was a great supporter of the arts, commissioning important projects that show an awareness of classical Roman art and establishing an artistic tradition at the abbey that was sustained through the 1000s and 1100s.
The missal is profusely illuminated with decorated initials and miniatures of a rare theological complexity. These images present an extensive program of typology, wherein Old Testament subjects are understood as foreshadowing events that occur in the New Testament.
Painted in a Romanesque style characterized by symmetrical compositions offset by alternating color schemes and patterns, the illuminations are dynamic, vibrant, and majestic.' Getty Museum Collection.
Stammheim Missal; Unknown; Hildesheim, Germany; probably 1170s; Tempera colors, gold leaf, silver leaf, and ink on parchment bound between wood boards covered with alum tawed pigskin; Leaf: 28.2 × 18.9 cm (11 1/8 × 7 7/16 in.); Ms. 64
Wisdom; Unknown; Hildesheim, Germany; probably 1170s; Tempera colors, gold leaf, silver leaf, and ink on parchment; Leaf: 28.2 x 18.9 cm (11 1/8 x 7 7/16 in.); Ms. 64, fol. 11
Decorated Initial R; Unknown; Hildesheim, Germany; probably 1170s; Tempera colors, gold leaf, silver leaf, and ink on parchment; Leaf: 28.2 x 18.9 cm (11 1/8 x 7 7/16 in.); Ms. 64, fol. 36
Initial D: Isaiah in Prayer; Unknown; Hildesheim, Germany; probably 1170s; Tempera colors, gold leaf, silver leaf, and ink on parchment; Leaf: 28.2 x 18.9 cm (11 1/8 x 7 7/16 in.); Ms. 64, fol. 53v
Decorated Incipit Page with a VD Monogram
Decorated Incipit Page with a VD Monogram; Unknown; Hildesheim, Germany; probably 1170s; Tempera colors, gold leaf, silver leaf, and ink on parchment; Leaf: 28.2 x 18.9 cm (11 1/8 x 7 7/16 in.); Ms. 64, fol. 84v
Decorated Initial T; Unknown; Hildesheim, Germany; probably 1170s; Tempera colors, gold leaf, silver leaf, and ink on parchment; Leaf: 28.2 x 18.9 cm (11 1/8 x 7 7/16 in.); Ms. 64, fol. 86v
Decorated Initial D; Unknown; Hildesheim, Germany; probably 1170s; Tempera colors, gold leaf, silver leaf, and ink on parchment; Leaf: 28.2 x 18.9 cm (11 1/8 x 7 7/16 in.); Ms. 64, fol. 110
Stammheim Missal; Unknown; Hildesheim, Germany; probably 1170s; Tempera colors, gold leaf, silver leaf, and ink on parchment bound between wood boards covered with alum tawed pigskin; Leaf: 28.2 × 18.9 cm (11 1/8 × 7 7/16 in.); Ms. 64
The Annunciation; Unknown; Hildesheim, Germany; probably 1170s; Tempera colors, gold leaf, silver leaf, and ink on parchment; Leaf: 28.2 x 18.9 cm (11 1/8 x 7 7/16 in.); Ms. 64, fol. 11v
Inhabited Initial V; Unknown; Hildesheim, Germany; probably 1170s; Tempera colors, gold leaf, silver leaf, and ink on parchment; Leaf: 28.2 x 18.9 cm (11 1/8 x 7 7/16 in.); Ms. 64, fol. 40
Inhabited Initial B; Unknown; Hildesheim, Germany; probably 1170s; Tempera colors, gold leaf, silver leaf, and ink on parchment; Leaf: 28.2 x 18.9 cm (11 1/8 x 7 7/16 in.); Ms. 64, fol. 58
Decorated Incipit Page; Unknown; Hildesheim, Germany; probably 1170s; Tempera colors, gold leaf, silver leaf, and ink on parchment; Leaf: 28.2 x 18.9 cm (11 1/8 x 7 7/16 in.); Ms. 64, fol. 85
Initial E: An Archbishop; Unknown; Hildesheim, Germany; probably 1170s; Tempera colors, gold leaf, silver leaf, and ink on parchment; Leaf: 28.2 x 18.9 cm (11 1/8 x 7 7/16 in.); Ms. 64, fol. 89
Stammheim Missal; Unknown; Hildesheim, Germany; probably 1170s; Tempera colors, gold leaf, silver leaf, and ink on parchment bound between wood boards covered with alum tawed pigskin; Leaf: 28.2 × 18.9 cm (11 1/8 × 7 7/16 in.); Ms. 64
Initial A: David and Companion Musicians
Initial A: David and Companion Musicians; Unknown; Hildesheim, Germany; probably 1170s; Tempera colors, gold leaf, silver leaf, and ink on parchment; Leaf: 28.2 x 18.9 cm (11 1/8 x 7 7/16 in.); Ms. 64, fol. 12
Inhabited Initial S; Unknown; Hildesheim, Germany; probably 1170s; Tempera colors, gold leaf, silver leaf, and ink on parchment; Leaf: 28.2 x 18.9 cm (11 1/8 x 7 7/16 in.); Ms. 64, fol. 41
Decorated Initial G; Unknown; Hildesheim, Germany; probably 1170s; Tempera colors, gold leaf, silver leaf, and ink on parchment; Leaf: 28.2 x 18.9 cm (11 1/8 x 7 7/16 in.); Ms. 64, fol. 62
Christ in Majesty; Unknown; Hildesheim, Germany; probably 1170s; Tempera colors, gold leaf, silver leaf, and ink on parchment; Leaf: 28.2 x 18.9 cm (11 1/8 x 7 7/16 in.); Ms. 64, fol. 85v
The Nativity; Unknown; Hildesheim, Germany; probably 1170s; Tempera colors, gold leaf, silver leaf, and ink on parchment; Leaf: 28.2 x 18.9 cm (11 1/8 x 7 7/16 in.); Ms. 64, fol. 92
The Creation of the World; Unknown; Hildesheim, Germany; probably 1170s; Tempera colors, gold leaf, silver leaf, and ink on parchment; Leaf: 28.2 x 18.9 cm (11 1/8 x 7 7/16 in.); Ms. 64, fol. 10v
Initial D: David in Prayer; Unknown; Hildesheim, Germany; probably 1170s; Tempera colors, gold leaf, silver leaf, and ink on parchment; Leaf: 28.2 x 18.9 cm (11 1/8 x 7 7/16 in.); Ms. 64, fol. 32v
Decorated Initial T; Unknown; Hildesheim, Germany; probably 1170s; Tempera colors, gold leaf, silver leaf, and ink on parchment; Leaf: 28.2 x 18.9 cm (11 1/8 x 7 7/16 in.); Ms. 64, fol. 52v
Inhabited VD Monogram; Unknown; Hildesheim, Germany; probably 1170s; Tempera colors, gold leaf, silver leaf, and ink on parchment; Leaf: 28.2 x 18.9 cm (11 1/8 x 7 7/16 in.); Ms. 64, fol. 83
The Crucifixion; Unknown; Hildesheim, Germany; probably 1170s; Tempera colors, gold leaf, silver leaf, and ink on parchment; Leaf: 28.2 x 18.9 cm (11 1/8 x 7 7/16 in.); Ms. 64, fol. 86
Inhabited Initial C; Unknown; Hildesheim, Germany; probably 1170s; Tempera colors, gold leaf, silver leaf, and ink on parchment; Leaf: 28.2 x 18.9 cm (11 1/8 x 7 7/16 in.); Ms. 64, fol. 92v