Master of the Registrum Gregorii

The Master of the Registrum Gregorii is a conventional name for an anonymous scribe and illuminator active in Trier during the episcopate of Egbert of Trier, in the 10th century. The record gives dates of 1000 to 1100, which do not match that attribution and should be treated with caution. His work belongs to Ottonian art and is regarded as the high point of manuscript illumination of that period.

His figures are large, statuesque and monumental, wrapped in highly stylized drapery that suggests a solid body beneath. Shading is built up by lightening with white and darkening with deeper tones of the same colour. The heads are proportionally small, yet the faces are finely rendered, and the attention to individual detail hints at portraiture. Backgrounds are sparse or a flat gradient of a single colour, lighter above and darker below.

Work ascribed to him includes the Registrum Gregorii, two Trier sacramentaries, the Codex Egberti with seven miniatures, the Sainte-Chapelle Gospel Book, the small Egbert Psalter and the Strahov Evangelary. His iconic, monumental style marks one of the summits of Ottonian manuscript illumination.