The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 21, 2025

Single Leaf from a Decretum by Gratian: Quadruple Arcade with Concordance of Greek and Latin Alphabets

c. 1160–1165

France, Burgundy, Archdiocese of Sens, Abbey of Pontigny, 12th century

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.b
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 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
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 87 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. 47 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. 47 archive.org
    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, 49, fig. 2 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 52 archive.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"
  • {{cite web|title=Single Leaf from a Decretum by Gratian: Quadruple Arcade with Concordance of Greek and Latin Alphabets |url=false|author=|year=c. 1160–1165|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

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