The “Bußpsalmencodex” of Albrecht V exhibited in Munich on 20 and 21 May
Veronika Giglberger and Bernhard Lutz
Thursday, May 7, 2026
It is too large to be considered a typical devotional book. Too precious to be used in church services. Too sophisticated in its illustrations to serve merely as a representative work, and too unsystematic in its presentation of knowledge to meet the standards of an encyclopaedia. (Andrea Gottdang in her preface to Andacht, Repräsentation – Gelehrsamkeit: Der Bußpsalmencodex Albrechts V., Wiesbaden 2020)
Image: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Mus.ms. A I(1, p. 183 (Detail). Public Domain Mark 1.0 Universal
The “Bußpsalmencodex” of Albrecht V, also known as the “Mielich Codex,” is a choirbook magnificently illuminated by Hans Mielich, which Albrecht V, Duke of Wittelsbach, had commissioned between 1558 and 1570. Today it is kept in the Bavarian State Library as one of its most precious treasures. The two-volume codex contains Orlando di Lasso’s musical settings of the seven penitential psalms, and as a final treat also his motet “Laudes Domini.” The first volume of this unique codex will be on display on 20 and 21 May 2026 at the Bavarian State Library in Munich.
Cataloged in RISM as part of the Choirbook Project between 2012 and 2015, the first volume has been extensively restored and digitized since 2015, and has been available online since 2018. The restoration of the second volume (RISM Catalog | RISM Online) is also nearing completion, and its digitization is scheduled to begin around the middle of this year.
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Mus.ms. A I(1, p.183 (Detail). Public Domain Mark 1.0 Universal
Since a commissioned work was considered as ‘musica reservata,’ Lasso could not publish his penitential psalms at the time; the first edition appeared only after the Duke’s death (RISM Catalog | RISM Online). As for the enormous cycle of illustrations by the Munich painter Hans Mielich (1516–1673), which comprises several thousand individual scenes, the recent digitization can be viewed as its first publication. Never before have these miniatures been made available to the public in their entirety and in colour.
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