User:Ycanmendoza/Drogo Sacramentary

The Drogo Sacramentary
The Drogo Sacramentary (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, MS lat. 9428) is a Carolingian illuminated manuscript on vellum from c. 850 AD, one of the monuments of Carolingian book illumination. 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). It is a sacramentary, a book containing all the prayers spoken by the officiating priest during the course of the year.

Historic context
In the Sacramentary, Christ 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's son Drogo, the Bishop of Metz. Metz was an important bishopric: Charles the Bald was crowned in the Basilica, and Louis the Pious and his illegitimate half-brother Drogo, the Bishop are buried there. In 843 Metz became the capital of the kingdom of Lotharingia, 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.

Description
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. The use of gold and silver in the illustrations highlights the sacred nature of the text and brings a sense of reverence to the rituals it describes. Decorative elements, such as interlocking patterns and stylized animals, add beauty and complexity to the manuscript. retaining its original scene and meaning to the public.

Initial Letter O
An example of the individual character of its iconography is the initial O for Palm Sunday prayers, which contains a Crucifixion 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 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.

Initial letter C
The initial C shows the image of Christ carrying a cross, Christ being at the top of the hill and reaching out the hand of God. Angels are at the same level of Christ to give a simulation that Christ is being ascending to heaven. The Apostles are standing with the Virgin while admiring the ascension of Christ. This shows the scene from the bible in John 16 which explains that Chris will not leave us alone, he will send the Holy Spirit.

Initial Letter D
The Initial D shows a scene of The Last Supper which shows Jesus with the Apostles which in the Bible describes how Jesus explained the significance of the Last Supper and the meaning behind it. It it said mention in Luke 22. It also shows the time when Judas Betray Jesus by giving him away with one kiss on his left cheeks.