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Initial G[audeamus omnes] from a Gradual: The Court of Heaven

1371-77

Don Silvestro dei Gherarducci

(Italian, 1339-1399)

Italy, Florence, 14th century

Ink, tempera, and gold on vellum

Sheet: 38.6 x 36.5 cm (15 3/16 x 14 3/8 in.); Framed: 68.9 x 53 cm (27 1/8 x 20 7/8 in.); Matted: 63.5 x 47.6 cm (25 x 18 3/4 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1930.105

Location

not on view

Description

This elegant and colorful initial G comes from a multivolume set of choral books illuminated by Don Silvestro, a Camaldolese monk, for his monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Florence. In the original book, this initial would have introduced the text: Gaudeamus omnes in Domino (“Let us rejoice in the Lord”), the beginning of Introit, the introduction, for the Feast of All Saints on November 1. This beautiful initial is generally considered to be the artist’s masterpiece.

Provenance

W.Y. Ottley (London, 1838, no. 182); Edouard Kann, Paris.

Citations

Cleveland Museum of Art. Catalogue of the Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition of the Cleveland Museum of Art: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition : June Twenty-Sixth to October Fourth 1936. [Cleveland, Ohio]: [Cleveland Museum of Art], 1936. no. 135, p. 58, repr. pl. XIII

Walters Art Gallery (Baltimore, Md.), and Dorothy Eugenia Miner. Illuminated Books of the Middle Ages and Renaissance: An Exhibition Held at the Baltimore Museum of Art, January 27-March 13. Baltimore: Trustees of the Walters Art Gallery, 1949. cat. no. 175, p. 64, repr. pl. LXVII

Los Angeles County Calif. Museum, Los Angeles. Mediaeval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts; A Loan Exhibition, November 25, 1953-January 9, 1954. 1953. no. 100

Walters Art Gallery (Baltimore, Md.). The International Style: The Arts in Europe Around 1400; [Exhibition]: October 23-December 2, 1962, / B. [Baltimore, Md.]: Walters Art Gallery, 1962. no. 74, p. 75

Cleveland Museum of Art. A Missal for a King: Gothic Art, 1360-1440 [Cleveland]: [The Museum], 1963. p. 181

Gore, St. John, and Denys Sutton. The Art of Painting in Florence & Siena from 1250 to 1500; A Loan Exhibition, 24 February-10 April 1965, Wildenstein. [London]: [Wildenstein], 1965. p. 12, no. 19

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 57 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 57 archive.org

Pillsbury, Edmund P. Florence and the Arts; Five Centuries of Patronage. 1971. no. 44

High Museum of Art. Italian Renaissance Illuminations: December 14, 1973-February 15, 1974, the High Museum of Art. [Atlanta]: [High Museum of Art], 1973. cat. no. 21, repr. fig 6

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 65 archive.org

Kanter, Laurence B. Painting and Illumination in Early Renaissance Florence, 1300-1450. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1994.

Exhibition history

Illuminated Books of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore (January 27-March 13, 1949).

Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts, Los Angeles County Museum, California (November 25, 1953-January 9, 1954).

The International Style, The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore (October 23-December 2, 1962).

The Art of Painting in Florence and Siena from 1250 to 1500, Wildenstein & Co., London, England (1965).

Italian Renaissance Illuminations, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia (December 16, 1973-February 15, 1974).

Paintings and Illumination in Early Renaissance Florence 1300-1450, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (November 18, 1994-February 26, 1995).

The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 26-October 12, 1936).

The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).

Gothic Art 1360-1440. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 6-September 15, 1963).

Florence and the Arts: Five Centuries of Patronage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 29, 1971-January 2, 1972).

The Decorated Letter and the Illuminator's Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 25-December 19, 1993).

Illuminated Manuscripts. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (October 10, 2004-October 2, 2005).

Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. National Museum of Bavaria, Munich, Germany (May 10-September 16, 2007); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 13-June 7, 2009).

The Glory of the Painted Page: Manuscript Illuminations from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 6, 2010-April 17, 2011).

Italian Choral Books of the Renaissance (Manuscript Rotation) - Gallery 115. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 10, 2015-December 12, 2016).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Initial G[audeamus omnes] from a Gradual: The Court of Heaven|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1930.105|author=Don Silvestro dei Gherarducci|year=1371-77|access-date=20 October 2020|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Initial G[audeamus omnes] from a Gradual: The Court of Heaven

Initial G[audeamus omnes] from a Gradual: The Court of Heaven

Don Silvestro dei Gherarducci

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