Codex Aureus of Saint Emmeram

[2] Recent scholars tend to group the Lindau Gospels and the Arnulf Ciborium in closer relation to each other than the Codex Aureus to either.

11th century sources state it was produced in 893 and given to emperor Arnulf of Carinthia, who in turn donated it to Saint Emmeram's Abbey, then under abbot Tuto.

At the centre of the cover appears Christ in Majesty, in repoussé relief, seated on the globe of the world and holding on his knee a book inscribed with the words: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life.

[4] During the Carolingian era, King Charlemagne believed in the spiritual powers of gemstones and minerals, and their magical connection to heaven.

[5] Charlemagne passed down his interest in the spiritual qualities of gemstones to his grandson, Charles the Bald, who ordered the Codex Aureus and Lindau Gospels to be written in 870.

The standard of the work is extremely refined, with each of the gems in a setting that rises up from the plane of the cover and is decorated with fine detail.