L’illustration du Codex Gressly, missel bâlois du XIe siècle

The bishopric of Bâle received in 1986, as a gift from the family of Dr Max Gressly, a manuscript unknown until now. The writing permits a datation in the second half of the third quarter of the 11th C. It is a missal with juxtaposed parts. The author is mainly concerned with the iconography of two full page illustrations : 1/ A Crucifixion associated with the Bronze snake ; 2/ Saint Paul sat on a throne receiving the instruments to write. 1 / Christ is shown crucified on the initial «T » of «Te igitur » ; the image is associated with the text in a way which is not totally original for the period, and which is even fallen in disuse ; since the beginning on the 11th C. indeed, the first words of the prayer are no longer integrated to the picture, because of the progressive passage from the sacramentary to the missal. Contrarywise the préfiguration of the Crucifixion is evoqued very soon in the theological littérature. But in iconography, the two themes were note yet associated ; the drawing of the Gressly codex is then particularly original because it seems to merge two distinct models in a very narrow composition. 2/ The representation of Saint Paul in the Gressly manuscript has a unique place in the iconography of the apostle during the Middle Ages. The innovation character of this iconography contrasts with the rather out-of-fashion style of the drawing. There is also 7 ornamented initials which seem of German inspiration. The localisation of the codex is still to be discovered.