The Gospels, the accounts of Jesus' life attributed to the evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, are an important part of Christian sacred writings. From as early as the 600s until about 1200, monastic and court patrons throughout Western Europe commissioned sumptuously illuminated Gospel books.

This Gospel book was made at the Benedictine monastery of the Holy Savior at Helmarshausen, Germany, around 1120 to 1140. The abbey at Helmarshausen, which enjoyed the patronage of the Holy Roman Emperors, was one of the most important German centers of Romanesque illumination and goldsmith's work. The book is decorated with painted architectural settings for the canon tables and an evangelist portrait and lavishly decorated text page at the beginning of each Gospel.