The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Fragment from a Lectern Bible: Initial E[t fecit Josias] with Josiah Aspersing the Altar

Fragment from a Lectern Bible: Initial E[t fecit Josias] with Josiah Aspersing the Altar

c. 1300

circle of Master Honoré

(French, Paris, active 1288–1300)
France, Paris
ink, tempera, and gold on vellum
Sheet: 10.5 x 8 cm (4 1/8 x 3 1/8 in.)
Gift from J. H. Wade 1924.428
Location: not on view

Description

This initial comes from a large bible (about 23 inches high) and introduces the opening text of the Book of Esdras: Et fecit Josias in Jerosolymis Domino (When Josiah celebrated the Passover festival in Jerusalem to his Lord). The artist, a close follower of Master Honoré at Paris, set his figure against a diapered ground of alternating gold and blue diamonds with fleur-de-lys. Instead of portraying Josiah as a Jew, however, the artist abandoned historical perspective and painted him as a Christian priest sprinkling the altar with holy water in preparation for the Mass.
  • "Illuminated Miniatures in the Cleveland Museum of Art." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 12, no. 4 (April 1925): 61-71 Mentioned: p. 63; Reproduced: p. 66
  • Devotion and Leaning in the Middle Ages- (Manuscript Rotation) - Gallery 115. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
    The Glory of the Painted Page: Manuscript Illuminations from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 6, 2010-April 17, 2011).
    Cleveland Museum of Art, (11/06/2010 - 04/17/2011); "The Glory Of the Painted Page: Manuscript Illuminations from the Permanent Collections"
    Illuminated Manuscripts. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (October 10, 2004-October 2, 2005).
    The Cleveland Museum of Art (10/10/2004 - 10/02/2005); "Illuminated Manuscripts"
    The Decorated Letter and the Illuminator's Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 25-December 19, 1993).
    Transformations of the Court Style: Gothic Art in Europe, 1270 - 1330. Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI (February 2-27, 1977).
  • {{cite web|title=Fragment from a Lectern Bible: Initial E[t fecit Josias] with Josiah Aspersing the Altar|url=false|author=Master Honoré|year=c. 1300|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1924.428