The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 29, 2023

Bifolio from a Gradual: Initial (G) with Christ, the Virgin, and Apostles and Initial (O) (recto)

c. 1300

Part of a set. See all set records

Italy, Siena

(?)

Ink, tempera, and gold on vellum

Sheet: 55.7 x 37.9 cm (21 15/16 x 14 15/16 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1950.391.a

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

Words written in red ink, called rubrics, indicate titles and chapter headings that are not part of a manuscript’s main text.

Description

The large decorated initial G introduces the text, Gaudeamus omnes in Domino (Let us rejoice in the Lord). It is the beginning of the opening prayer, or introit, of the Mass for the Feast of All Saints (November 1). The figures within the initial include Christ, the Virgin Mary, and various saints.

Provenance
-1950
Vladimir G. Simkhovitch, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
1950-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Oh
Citations
Bollati, Milvia, and Miklós Boskovits. Dizionario biografico dei miniatori italiani: secoli IX-XVI. Milano: Sylvestre Bonnard, 2004. p. 536
Freuler, Gaudenz. Ancora Sulla Miniatura sense dei secoli XIII-XV. Arte Cristiana XCVII (2009). p. 282
Medica, Massimo, and Federica Toniolo. Le miniature della Fondazione Giorgio Cini: pagine, ritagli, manoscritti. 2016. p. 278
Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1950.391.a