The Whole World on Parchment: The Exhibition of the Choir Books from the Mainz Carmelite Monastery
An exhibition of ancient choir book from the Carmelite monastery entitled “The Whole World on Parchment. The Choir Books from the Mainz Carmelite Monastery,” is taking place in the Episcopal Cathedral and Diocesan Museum in Mainz, Germany from November 8, 2024 to March 23, 2025. The books were created from 1430 for the Carmelites to use during their religious services.
The prior general, Míceál O’Neill, O. Carm., together with the prior of the Carmelite community in Mainz, Josef Kemper, O. Carm., and with Richard Byrne, O. Carm., were invited to visit the exhibition in the week before it opened to the public, as final preparations were being made. As part of the exhibition, visitors are given the opportunity to lift up a replica of one of the choir books which, given the books weight 26kg each, most found difficult to do! They also saw the materials that were used to make the various inks and paints within the books.
The Carmelite Choir Books: Exquisite Illumination
There are only six books, but they are impressive. Weighing up to 26 kg per volume and a total of around 1,600 parchment pages, the so-called Carmelite choir books are among the giants of medieval manuscripts. But they are not only large and heavy, they are also exquisitely beautiful and original.
Created for the Mainz Carmelite monastery, the huge books were used in services several times a day and night: the 150 psalms as well as antiphons, hymns, canticles, and responsories as well as the changing chants of the mass.
But the books go far beyond their practical needs. The melodies in square notation on four red lines and the texts in the script typical of the time are equipped with a rich world of images that are among the highest quality and most bizarre in book illumination of the 15th century. Biblical figures, countless mythical and hybrid creatures, monsters, dragons, animals, plants and people cavort in scenes that range from graceful to crude and salacious. Nothing human seems alien to these books!
It expresses the deep wish that it is not chaos but a deeper meaning that holds them together: the songs give everyday life a pleasant structure, they “sanctify time,” the texts convey wisdom, the paintings show perfection and beauty and the countless drawings show the world in all its facets: love, desire and passion, human highs and lows.
The weighty topics are presented with an impressive lightness, not with a raised index finger, but with sweeping pen drawings and subtle, humorous irony. These books do not speak of the dark Middle Ages, but rather of 600 years of cheerful hope, which culminates in the last sentence of the Psalter: “Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!”
Carmelites & Mainz
The Carmelites were first mentioned in documents in Mainz in 1285 and from then on were present in the city for more than 500 years. Their monastery, with an extensive library, was a place of education and the convent contributed significantly to the founding of the university in 1477.
During secularization in 1802, the Carmelites lost their Mainz Carmel, the brothers were expelled, and the property was auctioned off. A large part of the valuable book holdings came into the possession of what is now the Mainz Scientific City Library, but also went into various archives and libraries around the world. The valuable late-medieval choir books ended up in what is now the Episcopal Cathedral and Diocesan Museum.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the late-Gothic monastery church was in such a deplorable state that the city council decided to demolish it. Many Mainz citizens protested against this. At the request of the bishop and thanks to the commitment of the Dutch Province, the Carmelites returned to Mainz in 1924.
The church building was transferred to the diocese. This was followed by renovations such as the restoration of the Gothic ceiling frescoes, the restoration of the church building after the Second World War and, most recently in 2009, an extensive redesign of the liturgical areas. Then as now, the Carmelites in Mainz are a contemplative community in the midst of people: the Carmelite Church is an inviting, spiritual place and the Carmelites are valued pastors in a diverse and colorful urban society.
Restoration, exhibition and digitisation
The restoration of the Carmelite choir books was funded by the state of Rhineland-Palatinate as part of the state funding program for the preservation of the collections. The digitization of the Carmelite choir books was carried out in the DFG project “Digitization of medieval manuscripts from Mainz, Worms and Speyer” at the Mainz University Library. The digitization project began with the Carmelites’ six large-format choir books and will be funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) with 310,000 euros over the next three years.
Dr. Anja Lempges, deputy director of the Episcopal Cathedral and Diocesan Museum in Mainz, has worked on these highlights of European book art with a team of scientists and is presenting the special exhibition she has curated, “The Whole World on Parchment. The Choir Books from the Mainz Carmelite Monastery,” in the Episcopal Cathedral and Diocesan Museum in Mainz from November 8, 2024 to March 23, 2025.
“We would like to present the fragile, unique choir books of the Carmelites to a broad public,” explains Dr. Anja Lempges. The special exhibition is one of the highlights in the series of festivities for the 100th anniversary of the Episcopal Cathedral and Diocesan Museum in Mainz. The 100th anniversary of the repopulation of the Carmelite monastery in Mainz is also to be celebrated and is another reason for the special exhibition.
These six Carmelite choir books have been completely digitised. You can see the books for yourself here: (you have to scroll to the bottom of the page to find them):
https://gutenberg-capture.ub.uni-mainz.de/mittelalterlichehand/nav/index/all?facets=place%3D%22836512%22
However, if you can make your way to Mainz, it would be well worth seeing them and the associated exhibition for yourself. The exhibition finishes on 23rd March 2025.
Website for museum: https://www.dommuseum-mainz.de/die-ganze-welt-auf-pergament/
(Source: Cathedral Museum, Mainz, Germany)
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