The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 19, 2025
Leaf from Gratian's Decretum: Table of Consanguinity
c. 1270–1300
Sheet: 28.9 x 21.2 cm (11 3/8 x 8 3/8 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1929.435.2
Location: Not on view
Description
These leaves were excised from a copy of the handbook of canon law known simply as the Decretum written by Gratian, an Italian Camaldolese monk, in Bologna around 1130–40. The Decretum was widely copied and consulted throughout the Middle Ages. Consanguinity diagrams were used to show the degree of kinship between an individual and his or her "blood" relations. These tables followed an established tradition dating back to around 600 CE. Until church law was relaxed in 1215, a marriage could only be contracted by persons separated by seven degrees of relationship. After 1215 the degree of separation was reduced to four. Tables of Consanguinity were therefore used by church officials to regulate marriage.- Winter, Patrick M. de. “Bolognese Miniatures at the Cleveland Museum.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 70, no. 8 (October 1983): 314–351. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 320, fig. 8 www.jstor.org
- 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"Late Medieval Art. Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH (October 31-November 26, 1958).
- {{cite web|title=Leaf from Gratian's Decretum: Table of Consanguinity|url=false|author=|year=c. 1270–1300|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1929.435.2