View source for Gospels of Henry the Lion

{{Short description|Religious manuscript}}
[[File:Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, Cod. Guelf. 105 Noviss. 2°, f. 171r.jpg|thumb|Miniature of Mary Magdalene with Christ, angel, and apostles (Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, Cod. Guelf. 105 Noviss. 2°, f. 171r)]]
[[File:Heinrich der Löwe und Mathilde von England.jpg|thumb|Henry the Lion at his ducal coronation alongside his wife [[Matilda of England, Duchess of Saxony|Matilda of England]]. Illumination from the Gospel Book.]]

The '''Gospels of Henry the Lion''' were intended by [[Henry the Lion]], [[Rulers of Saxony|Duke of Saxony]], for the altar of the [[Virgin Mary]] in the church of St. Blaise's Abbey, [[Braunschweig|Brunswick]], better known as [[Brunswick Cathedral]]. The volume is considered a masterpiece of [[Romanesque art|Romanesque]] book illumination of the 12th century.<ref name="Kleiner2016">{{cite book|author=Fred S. Kleiner|title=Gardner's Art through the Ages:The Western Perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aIdTCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT382|date=1 January 2016|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=978-1-305-63394-0|pages=382–}}</ref>
==Creation and dating==
The [[Gospel Book|gospel book]] was made for the duke on commission at the [[Benedictine Order|Benedictine]] [[Helmarshausen Abbey]]. As for its date, the church in Brunswick was built in 1173, and the altar of the Virgin Mary was dedicated in 1188. The creation of the gospel book was formerly placed by most authorities at about 1175 ("early dating") but today the balance of opinion puts it at about 1188 ("late dating")
==Description and ownership==
The manuscript, containing 266 pages with the text of the four [[gospel]]s, 50 of them full page illustrations, was sold by auction on 6 December 1983 at [[Sotheby's]] in [[London]] for £8,140,000.<ref name="Jones2015">{{cite book|author=Barry Jones|title=Dictionary of World Biography: Second edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GMqMCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA388|date=17 March 2015|publisher=ANU Press|isbn=978-1-925022-25-4|pages=388–}}</ref> The purchase price was raised, in the context of a German national initiative for the preservation of national treasures, by the [[German government]], the ''Bundesländer'' of [[Lower Saxony]] and [[Bavaria]], the [[Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation|Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz]] and private donors (largely from Brunswick). It was the most expensive book in the world until 1994, when [[Bill Gates]] bought the [[Codex Leicester]], a manuscript by [[Leonardo da Vinci]].
==Location==
The gospel book, preserved completely intact, with 50 full page miniatures, is kept in the [[Herzog August Library|Herzog August Bibliothek]] in [[Wolfenbüttel]], and for security reasons is displayed only once every two years.<ref name="Jeep2001">{{cite book|author=John M. Jeep|title=Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p4uHav3mZLsC&pg=PA347|date=January 2001|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-8240-7644-3|pages=347–}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Guelph Treasure]]
*[[List of most expensive books and manuscripts]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*''Das Evangeliar Heinrichs des Löwen.'' Complete facsimile of Codex Guelf. Noviss. 2°, Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel (also Clm 30055 of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich). 1,000 numbered copies of the manuscript in 2 volumes (facsimile and commentary). Frankfurt am Main. 1989 {{in lang|de}}
*Abs, H. J., Fleckenstein, J., Kötzsche., D., 1985. ''Evangeliar Heinrichs des Löwen.'' Documentation to the authorised facsimile edition. Frankfurt am Main: Insel- Verlag. {{in lang|de}}
*Kötzsche, D. (ed.), 1989. '' Das Evangeliar Heinrichs des Löwen''. Commentary on the facsimile. Frankfurt am Main. {{in lang|de}}
*Klemm. E., 1988. ''Das Evangeliar Heinrichs des Löwen erläutert.'' Frankfurt am Main. {{in lang|de}}
*Gospels of Henry the Lion: Sale Catalogue, 6 December 1983. Sotheby's, London.
*Walther, Ingo F. and Norbert Wolf. ''Codices Illustres: The world's most famous illuminated manuscripts, 400 to 1600''. Köln, TASCHEN, 2005.

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[http://diglib.hab.de/mss/105-noviss-2f/start.htm Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel: Digital facsimile of manuscript]

{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Gospel Books]]
[[Category:12th-century books]]
[[Category:12th-century illuminated manuscripts]]
[[Category:Herzog August Library]]
[[Category:Culture in Braunschweig]]
[[Category:Christianity in Braunschweig]]