binding and back cover: leather, copper worked in vernis brun on oak, German, Hildesheim, ca 1000 Dom-Museum (DS 13) The precious materials constituting this small gospel book were assembled in several stages. The manuscript was already a hundred years old when Bernward of Hildesheim comissioned a new cover, which likely included thge tenth-century Byzantinew ivory we see at the center. The bejeweled frame is a twelth-century addition, probably in honor of Bernward's canonization. With the bold monogram on the back cover, Bernward asserts his status as owner and patron.
aperture=f2.8 focal length: 60.0 mm exposure 1/50 sec ISO: 2000