The Drogo Sacramentary (Paris,

Bibliothèque Nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...

MS lat. 9428
is a

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid c ...

illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared manuscript, document where the text is decorated with flourishes such as marginalia, borders and Miniature (illuminated manuscript), miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Churc ...

vellum Vellum is prepared animal skin or membrane, typically used as writing material. It is often distinguished from parchment, either by being made from calfskin (rather than the skin of other animals), or simply by being of a higher quality. Vellu ...

from 850 AD, one of the monuments of Carolingian book illumination. It is a

sacramentary In the Western Christianity, Western Church of the Early Middle Ages, Early and High Middle Ages, a sacramentary was a book used for Christian liturgy, liturgical services and the Mass (liturgy), mass by a bishop or Priest#Christianity, priest. Sa ...

, a book containing all the prayers spoken by the officiating priest during the course of the year. In the Sacramentary,

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

is depicted as the central figure, holding the staff of Jacob as he accepts God’s hand and begins his ascension into the clouds, from which God's hand appears. The sacramentary was written and painted for the personal use of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

's son Drogo, the

Bishop of Metz This is a list of bishops of the Roman Catholic diocese of Metz, which now lies in eastern France. To 500 * Clement of Metz (c. 280–300) * Celestius * Felix I * Patient * Victor I 344–346 * Victor II * Simeon * Sambace * Rufus of Metz * Ad ...

. Metz was an important bishopric:

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as CharlesII, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), King of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a series of civil wars during t ...

was crowned in the Basilica, and

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (; ; ; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor, co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aquitaine from 781. As the only ...

and his illegitimate half-brother Drogo the Bishop are buried there. In 843 Metz became the capital of the kingdom of

Lotharingia Lotharingia was a historical region and an early medieval polity that existed during the late Carolingian and early Ottonian era, from the middle of the 9th to the middle of the 10th century. It was established in 855 by the Treaty of Prüm, a ...

, and several diets and councils were held there. Drogo's position enabled him to be one of the great patrons of 9th-century arts. He embellished his cathedral in Metz with works which rank among the highlights of Carolingian art in beauty and preciousness. Among them are three surviving manuscripts from the court school, of which the Drogo Sacramentary is the most mature and most accomplished. This sacramentary is not the product of a monastic scriptorium but reveals an origin in a court school. It contains only those liturgical sections that the bishop spoke. Paintings all around it, showing the beauty and uniqueness. retaining its original scene and meaning to the public. An example of the individual character of its iconography is the initial O for

Palm Sunday Palm Sunday is the Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Its name originates from the palm bran ...

prayers, which contains a

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...

of a new iconographic type, one that would be called ''christus patiens'' rather than the triumphant Christ on the cross (''christus triumphans'') that had been the norm. In the image, the dead and tortured body of Christ spouts water and blood, which are collected by a female figure recognizable as Ecclesia, the Church, in a chalice, that would become entangled with the

Holy Grail The Holy Grail (, , , ) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miraculous healing powers, sometimes providing eternal youth or sustenanc ...

legend in the future. The Serpent entwines the base of the cross and figures representing the Sun and Moon witness the event from above. The manuscript's style, too, is considered to show the patron's influence, in an unusually unified work of a small group of artists working in close cooperation. It is 264 mm by 214 mm and has 130 folios. It is lavishly illuminated. Art historian Sonia Chalif Simon focused on the Drogo ''Sacramentary'' for her doctoral dissertation, "Studies on the ''Drogo'' Sacrementary: Eschatology and the Priest-King" (1975, Boston University).

References

External links

*{{usurped,
Facsimile volume, Adeva, Vienna
}
Adam H. Veil, "Carolingian Crucifixion Iconography"
9th-century books in Latin 9th-century Christian texts Christian illuminated manuscripts Carolingian illuminated manuscripts 9th-century writers in Latin Writers from the Carolingian Empire