The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 14, 2025

Leaf from an Antiphonary: Floral Initial (recto); Text (verso)

c. 1475

Italy

Ink, tempera, and gold on vellum
Overall: 50.7 x 35.4 cm (19 15/16 x 13 15/16 in.)
Gift in memory of Robert M. Gotwald by his children, Karen Gotwald, Michael Gotwald, David Gotwald, and Robbie Duncan 2022.134
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Churches had mostly two copies of this book because the clergymen were sitting in the coir stall on both sides of the high altar and therefore needed a copy for each side.

Description

The leaf comes from an Antiphonale, a liturgical book that contains the melodies and texts of all the chants of the Liturgy of the Hours, the antiphons. These include the psalms, responsories and hymns, which are arranged in the book in the order of the church year. The antiphons served clergymen and monks or nuns for their service in the choir stalls of the church.
  • -1951
    Mr. Otto F. Ege (1888-1951), Cleveland, OH, by inheritance to his wife Louise
    1951-1960s
    Louise Ege (1892-1970), Cleveland, OH, gifted to Mr. Robert Gotwald
    1960s-2000
    Mr. Robert M. Gotwald (1921-2000), Cleveland, OH, by inheritance to his son Michael
    2000-2021
    Mr. Michael Gotwald, Washington D.C., gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2021-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Ege, Otto F. “Manuscripts of the Middle Ages.” The American Magazine of Art 23, no. 5 (1931). p. 379
    Ricci, Seymour de, William Jerome Wilson, Anne M. Nill, and W. H. Bond. Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada. 1935. no. 27
    Gwara, Scott. Otto Ege's Manuscripts: A Study of Ege's Manuscript Collections, Portfolios, and Retail Trade ; with a Comprehensive Handlist of Manuscripts Collected or Sold. 2013. pp. 169, 290, fig. 88
  • {{cite web|title=Leaf from an Antiphonary: Floral Initial (recto); Text (verso)|url=false|author=|year=c. 1475|access-date=14 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2022.134