The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 10, 2022

Leaf from a Gradual with Historiated Initial (G): Mary as Queen of Heaven

c. 1425–1450

Italy, Lombardy, Milan?, 15th century

Ink, tempera, and gold on parchment

Sheet: 42 x 30 cm (16 9/16 x 11 13/16 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1928.652

Location

not on view

Description

This initial G introduces the Feast of the Assumption (August 15) in the gradual, a choir book used for singing the Latin Mass. The historiated initial bears the image of the Virgin, alone and unaccompanied by saints, borne aloft by angels. The Virgin was believed to have been assumed into heaven, body and soul, three days after her death. Here she is surrounded by a host of angels who play musical instruments, suggesting the celestial realm.

Provenance
Marczell von Nemes, Budapest
Marczell von Nemes, Budapest
Citations
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 212 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 61 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. 61 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 69 archive.org
Exhibition history

Cleveland Museum of Art, (11/06/2010 - 04/17/2011); "The Glory Of the Painted Page: Manuscript Illuminations from the Permanent Collections"

Main Gallery Rotation (gallery 115): December 7, 2015 -

Pages From Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts. Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA (April 24-June 8, 1963).

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

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

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).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1928.652