Kremsmünster Abbey houses one of the most precious liturgical vessels of the early Middle Ages: a lavishly decorated and magnificently inscribed communion chalice. This illustrated book provides for the first time a comprehensive descriptive and pictorial documentation of the chalice.

The chalice was donated by Bavarian Duke Tassilo III and his wife, the Lombard princess Liutpirc. Created about 1250 years ago in the Salzburg area, splendour has surrounded this singular work of art for centuries. Researchers consider the Tassilo-Liutpirc chalice to be a symbol of ancient Bavaria and a short-lived symbiosis of Mediterranean-insular post-antiquity. But little was known about its production, authenticity and original function. Despite many efforts, the message of the mysterious images and ornaments remained a mystery that this volume aims to solve.

For the first time, as a result of a five-year research project, a comprehensive descriptive, photographic and graphic documentation as well as in-depth archaeometric and goldsmith investigations according to the latest state of the art can now be presented. The historical environment and the artistic heyday of that time are illuminated against the backdrop of Tassilo's glorious reign and his intriguing overthrow by Charlemagne in 788. In detective meticulousness, the lost art treasure of Tassilo III is brought back to life and the enigmatic pictorial program of the Tassilo Liutpirc chalice is deciphered as an allegorical visualization of the celestial city.

Language of text: German