Romanesque bookpainting in Upper Austria

In Upper Austria there have been at least nine monastic scriptoria during the 12th and 13th century: Kremsmünster, Mondsee, Lambach, Garsten, Baumgartenberg, St. Florian, Reichersberg. Ranshofen and Suben: maybe Gleink, Wilhering and Waldhausen had their own production too. Although each scriptorium has been subject of a brief survey concerning the rough number and dating of the surviving romanesque manuscripts, we lack a more complete art historical treatment. The small number of books illuminated with fullpage miniatures or pen drawings has always been in the centre of interest, while the majority of manuscripts whose ornamentation only consists of initials has been more or less neglected. As these "masterpieces" are mostly stilistically related to manuscripts from Salzburg, some monasteries have been simply characterized as artistic filiations of Salzburg. The purpose of this research project is to analyse the ornamental initials of the whole material from this region and to point out the different relationships of style, ornament and - in case of figurative elements - iconography. According to the artistic situation, we have to suppose influences from Salzburg, Regensburg und Passau, but beyond that the preliminary examination of some manuscripts also indicates influences from Italy or France. On the other hand some of the major monasteries like Mondsee or Lambach may have been of importance in the book production of their smaller neighbours. The great variety of possibilities should be examined in connection with the local historical and ecclesiastical background to make one step further to a comprehensive history of romanesque bookpainting in Austria.