Artwork Page for Fol. 453v, Colossians, historiated initial P, Paul standing talking to the bust of God above

Details / Information for Fol. 453v, Colossians, historiated initial P, Paul standing talking to the bust of God above

Fol. 453v, Colossians, historiated initial P, Paul standing talking to the bust of God above

c. 1275–1300

Southern France, Toulouse(?), 13th century

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Medium
ink, tempera, and gold on vellum
Measurements
Overall: 35.6 x 24.2 cm (14 x 9 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund 2008.2.453.b
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Description

Biblical manuscripts were highly prized and important possessions of churches, monasteries, cathedral schools, and universities throughout medieval Europe. The biblical texts were known as the vulgate, the translations made by Saint Jerome in the fourth century from Hebrew and Greek into Latin, which became the definitive and official Latin version of the Roman Church. In the 13th century, the bible was, for the first time, produced as a single volume with an officially sanctioned sequence to its books and chapters as illustrated by this example. The very extensive decoration of this bible is arranged hierarchically to indicate the relative importance of the various texts so that full or almost full-page initials mark the openings of the first prologue, Genesis, and the first Gospel; historiated initials mark the beginning of each book and illuminated initials mark the Prologues.
A vertical vellum manuscript page features two columns of black Latin calligraphy. In the upper left, an ornate blue and gold historiated initial P depicts Paul, a man with light skin tone holding a sword and looking toward God in a cloud. Decorative red and blue headers and small initials are interspersed across the cream surface. A long, slender blue border extends down the left margin, ending in an elegant flourish.

Fol. 453v, Colossians, historiated initial P, Paul standing talking to the bust of God above

c. 1275–1300

Southern France, Toulouse(?), 13th century

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