The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Historiated Initial (A) Excised from a Gradual: Christ in Majesty with King David and Prophets

Historiated Initial (A) Excised from a Gradual: Christ in Majesty with King David and Prophets

c. 1300–1340
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Directly below the decorated initial is a line of music; the black squares are music notes sitting on a staff. During the Middle Ages the staff had only four lines, unlike today.

Description

This initial A probably refers to one of the most famous responses in Latin sung on the first Advent Sunday before Christmas: Aspiciens a longe et ecce video Dei potentiam venientem (I look from afar, and behold I see the power of God coming). With this song the physical presence of Christ in the world was celebrated. The leaf is probably taken from an antiphonary, a large liturgical book used by the choir for chanting. The style is reminiscent of Italian art during the 1200s and can be dated to the time before the Black Death.
  • Dr. Robert Forrer (1866-1947), Strasbourg, France
    ?-1952
    Dr. Vladimir G. Simkhovitch, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1952-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • "Part II. Annual Report Issue for the Year 1952." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 40, no. 6 (1953) p. 135 www.jstor.org
    Ricci, Seymour de. Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada, Supplement. New York: Bibliographical Society, 1961.
  • Stories From Storage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-May 16, 2021).
    The Decorated Letter and the Illuminator's Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 25-December 19, 1993).
  • {{cite web|title=Historiated Initial (A) Excised from a Gradual: Christ in Majesty with King David and Prophets|url=false|author=|year=c. 1300–1340|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1952.107