The Klosterneuburg Antiphonal

A gem of manuscript production

The ‘Great Antiphonal’, a collection of canticles from the Liturgy of the Hours, is a gem of Late Medieval manuscript production at Klosterneuburg Monastery. It was commissioned by the provost, Georg Muestinger, who presided between 1418 and 1442 and was heavily influenced by the Roudnice reform. In the course of this reform movement, which began in the canonry at Roudnice, north of Prague, the monastery was inspected and put under his aegis.

The manufacture of the Klosterneuburg antiphonal was an enormous undertaking which took many years. For this reason note writers and illuminators from the neighbouring Bohemian-Moravian region were called in to supplement local forces. The monastery’s accounting books document the purchasing of parchment and name at least 2 illuminators, Nicholas and Michael, working at Klosterneuburg from 1420 on. Even the style of the so-called ‘master of Kremnica municipal register’ can be identified. His surrogate name goes back to a depiction of the Crucifixion which he created in the municipal register of Kremnica, a mining town in modern-day Slovakia.

When the original 2-volume antiphonal was divided into 4 in around 1450, 55 pages were removed and replaced by 141 newly written ones. Their decoration is again attributed to the master Michael, contributing once more to the work after nearly 30 years.