pigment and gold on vellum; illumination

This Responsorial was created after the convent's internal reform, circa 1469. According to Uhde-Stahl, the late date of the manuscript (after 1476) but the iconographically earlier images indicates that the manuscript may have been produced by older nuns who adhered to older artistic styles (Uhde-Stahl, 50). Figürliche Buchmalereien in den spätmittelalterlichen Handschriften der Lüneburger Frauenklöster.

This illumination graces the page on which the responses sung on the feast of the Virgin's assumption appear. The text band reads: "Today the Virgin Mary ascended into heaven" (Hodie Maria virgo celos ascendit). This depiction of the coronation of the Virgin Mary by Christ portrays both figures seated together on a bench. Christ raises his right hand in blessing, while Mary clasps hers in prayer towards Christ. Christ's wound is clearly depicted with a stream of red blood. At the bottom of the page appears a small illumination of a Cistercian nun with a rosary engaged in prayer to the Virgin Mary (not pictured here).

Abbess Renate von Randow; Wolfgang Brandis