The gift which the Pope gave to the Queen on his recent visit to the UK is on public display.The rare manuscript, known as the Lorsch Gospels, is an illuminated Gospel Book collection written 1,200 years ago.
It contains more than 400 pages written entirely in gold ink on vellum and includes images of the Evangelists and the Canonical tables.
The manuscript was written in the early ninth century at the court of the Emperor Charlemagne in Aachen, Germany, and was first recorded in the Imperial Abbey of Lorsch in Germany around 860.
Pope Benedict XVI presented the Queen with a facsimile edition of the Lorsch Gospels when they exchanged gifts in the Morning Drawing Room at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh on September 16.
It has now gone on public display at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
The binding of the original manuscript was mounted with ivory panels depicting the Virgin and Child with St John and the prophet Zachariah, and the figure of Christ.
It remained at Lorsch Abbey until 1556 but was split into two before it left the Abbey and at some point the front and back covers were also removed. The back cover is now in the Vatican Library and the front cover is in London's Victoria and Albert Museum.
The copy presented to the Queen combines all parts of the manuscript in one volume for the first time in 500 years, complete with reproductions of the ivory covers.
During the exchange of gifts, the Queen presented the Pope with a facsimile edition of drawings by Hans Holbein the Younger.
SIC: PA/UK