Sacramentarium Gelasia or Gelazian Sacramentarium ( lat. Sacramentarium Gelasianum ) - Frankish illuminated sacramentarium - liturgical book containing texts for the celebration of the liturgy . Sacramentarian Gelasia - the second oldest surviving Western European liturgical book; only the Verona sacramentary dated the first quarter of the 7th century is older. The sacramentary Gelasiah is the most important example of the surviving Merovingian illuminated manuscripts and combines the traditions of late antiquity with the barbaric elements of the period of the great migration of peoples, which brings Merovingian art closer to the more famous island art of Great Britain and Ireland.
Two editions are known - the ancient (Vetus) , belonging to the second half - the end of the 7th century, and mixed (Mixta) , dated to the 8th century. The name of the manuscript was given by scholars of the XVII-XVIII centuries, who mistakenly attributed the original text to Pope Gelasius I (492–496). None of the manuscripts contains the name Gelasius, however, a very ancient tradition connects the book with this pope, coming from the testimony of the poet and theologian of the 9th century, Valafrid Strabo , who attributes the creation of sacramentary to Pope Gelasius.
Contents
The sacramentium Gelasia consists of three pre-Gigorian parts corresponding to the liturgical year, and contains masses for Sundays and holidays, prayers, sacraments, prayers for the blessing of water and oil, prayers for the blessing of churches and for the reception of nuns.
The dating of the text itself is based not on the characterization of the manuscript, but on the liturgy itself: most of it shows a mixture of Roman and Gallic practices inherited from the Merovingian church. Among the several liturgical rites that existed in Western Europe until the VIII century, the two most influential were the Roman (Latin) rite , widespread in Italy, the Gallic rite , which was used in most of Western Europe, with the exception of the Iberian Peninsula and the British Isles. Until the beginning of the VIII century, the Roman rite had an impact on the development of the Gallican rite, which is reflected in the Sacramental of Gelasius. However, with the transformation of the Frankish kingdom into an empire in the reign of Charlemagne, this mixture of traditions was abandoned, completely switching to the Roman liturgical rite.
Decoration
The artistic decoration of sacramentarium represents symbolic ornamental motifs. A patterned spread is characteristic, marking the beginning of the second book of sacramentation. The left page shows an architectural motif in the form of an arch on two speckled columns that convey the texture of dark marble. The indigo color used for the image of the columns is no longer found in this composition, built on a contrasting combination of red, yellow and green. The motive of the arch, used in architecture and decorative art of the early Middle Ages, most often has the meaning of the gates of Heavenly Jerusalem. In later salaries of the Gospels and in the design of reliquaries, an arcade motif with images of the apostles was associated with the twelve gates of the heavenly city. Inside the arch, an ornamental cross with two Greek letters "alpha" and "omega" on the sides is presented in miniature. The combination of the cross and these letters can be perceived as Chrism - a sign of the Name of the Savior. Plant motifs in the ornament of the cross bring its image closer to the Tree of Life, planted among Paradise. The ornamental elements themselves show rather a Mediterranean than a barbaric origin. In the decorative decoration of the page, images of polychrome cruciferous rosettes inscribed in a circle dominate. Similar motifs are often found in Byzantine works of decorative art, and although the whole system of the Merovingian miniature with its geometry and unusual bright color does not find analogues in Byzantine monuments, the individual elements that make up the composition cannot be called original.
See also
- Carolingian illuminated manuscripts
- Verona Sacramentary
- Sacramental of Karl Lysy
- Sacramental of Bishop Drogo
- Sacramental of Henry II