The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Single Leaf from a Decretum by Gratian: Decorated Initial Q[uidam habens filium obtulit]

Single Leaf from a Decretum by Gratian: Decorated Initial Q[uidam habens filium obtulit]

c. 1160–1165
ink and tempera on vellum
Sheet: 44.8 x 32 cm (17 5/8 x 12 5/8 in.); Framed: 63.5 x 48.3 cm (25 x 19 in.); Matted: 55.9 x 40.6 cm (22 x 16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1954.598.a
Location: not on view

Description

This leaf was excised from a copy of the handbook of church law known as the Decretum written by Gratian, an Italian Camaldolese monk active in Bologna from about 1130 to 1140. The focus of the leaf is a large decorated letter Q with spiraling lotus petals introducing the first Causa, or case of law. The text begins, "A man having a son offered him to a very wealthy cloister." This case concerns the definition of simony (making profit from sacred things). The style of the illumination and the script date the leaf to between 1160 and 1165. In November 1164, Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, took refuge at Pontigny as a result of his conflict with King Henry II of England. During his stay, Becket immersed himself in the study of church law, as evidenced by his later use of citations from the Decretum. This leaf could have been part of the original manuscript Becket consulted. The volume was later dismembered following the suppression of the monastery during the French Revolution in the late 1700s.
  • Vladimir G. Simkhovitch, New York
  • Cahn, Walter. “A Twelfth-Century Decretum Fragment from Pontigny.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 62, no. 2 (February 1975): 47–59. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 47-48, fig. 1 www.jstor.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 170-171, no. 60
  • 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"
    Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. National Museum of Bavaria, Munich, Germany (May 10-September 16, 2007); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 13-June 7, 2009).
    Bavarian Nationalmuseum, Munich (5/10/2007 - 9/16/2007), the J. Paul Getty Musuem, Los Angeles (10/30/2007 - 1/20/2008) and Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, TN (2/13/2009 - 6/7/2009): "Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art"
    Illuminated Manuscripts. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (October 10, 2004-October 2, 2005).
    The Cleveland Museum of Art (10/10/2004 - 10/02/2005); "Illuminated Manuscripts"
    Cleveland Museum of Art, "The Deocorated Letter and the Illuminator's Art" September 25-December 19, 1993.
    Cleveland Museum of Art, "Scriptorium: The Illuminated Book in Medieval Art" November 5, 1991-January 12, 1992.
    Metropolitan Musuem of Art, "The Year 1200" February 14-May 10, 1970.
  • {{cite web|title=Single Leaf from a Decretum by Gratian: Decorated Initial Q[uidam habens filium obtulit]|url=false|author=|year=c. 1160–1165|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1954.598.a