Salzburg missal

Fol. 13v: The Annunciation. Underneath Mechthild of Hessen (recognizable by the coat of arms of Hesse and Cleve, Nidda and Mark) kneels in a small garden with a grass bench. The miniature is framed by vibrant vines of, among other plants, pea flowers and pods, strawberries, daisies and acanthus flowers. The annunciation might be attributed to Johannes Wilberg who copied an engraving of the master ES.Salzburg, copied before 1478 (after 1466), illuminations ca. 1481–1489
Parchment

Comprising a total of five volumes, the missal (here volume 2) for the solemnities of the cathedral of Salzburg forms part of the most magnificent and most elaborate of all missals of the Middle Ages. It was created during the terms in office of three Prince Archbishops from around 1466 to around 1489/94.

Fol. 184v: Berthold Furtmeyr’ canon image for the feast of ascension shows Jesus on a forked cross. This special form of the cross goes back to the influence of mysticism in the late 13th / early 14th century. It derives from the idea that the wood of the cross was cut from the tree of paradise, the tree of knowledge (the tree of the fall of man).