Artwork Page for Bifolium from an Antiphonary: Initial M with Saint Dominic Preaching and Music

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Bifolium from an Antiphonary: Initial M with Saint Dominic Preaching and Music

c. 1320–40

Primo Miniatore di San Domenico

(Italian)
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Culture
Italy, Bologna
Medium
ink, tempera, and gold on parchment
Measurements
Sheet: 51 x 37.7 cm (20 1/16 x 14 13/16 in.)
Credit Line
Delia E. Holden Fund 1985.60
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Description

The representation of Saint Dominic (1170–1221), founder of the Dominican Order of Preachers, in this initial suggests that this double page was at one time part of a manuscript made for a Dominican convent. Saint Dominic traveled much, preaching throughout Europe, and was particularly venerated in Bologna, the city in which he died and was buried. The illuminator of this initial is named after a volume he decorated of Seneca’s works (now in the Bibliothèque nationale in Paris). His workshop specialized in large-scale manuscripts destined for wealthy religious institutions in the region of Emilia, for which Bologna was the artistic and intellectual center.
Two horizontal parchment pages feature musical notation on red staves alongside black and red script. On the left, a large blue initial houses a scene of a robed figure in a pulpit addressing six seated people. Delicate red and blue floral vines extend into the margins. Gold leaf accents are scattered across the aged, cream-colored surface. On the right, further text and notation continue across the textured, folded parchment.

Bifolium from an Antiphonary: Initial M with Saint Dominic Preaching and Music

c. 1320–40

Primo Miniatore di San Domenico

(Italian)
Italy, Bologna

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