bavarikon4UDescription
This richly decorated Gospel book, dating from the second half of the 11th century, contains portraits of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke (the portrait of John is missing), four decorated initial pages, and 84 mostly ornamental initials. Nine canon tables with the symbols of the Evangelists precede the texts of the Gospels. These concordance tables, lavishly decorated with arcades and tympana, go back to Eusebius of Caesarea (circa 260-339) and are often found in Gospel books. The place of origin of the manuscript is disputed among scholars. Most probably the Gospel book was intended for Freising and was created in the scriptorium of the abbey of Tegernsee in southern Bavaria. It came to Munich following the dissolution of the monastery in 1803.