Skip to main content

Leaf from an Antiphonal with historiated “A” initial of a female saint preaching, from Italy., Mid-fourteenth century, 1350.

 Item — Box: 1, Folder: 6

Scope and Contents

Description: Written in Latin in a Textualis Formata (Rotunda) script on parchment. From north-central Italy, probably in the vicinity of Bologna. Seven four line staves in red (28mm) with square musical notation. Smaller initials in alternating red and blue ink with pen flourishes. Large initial “A” measuring 9.8 x 9cm, illustrating the verse “Adaperiat dominus cor vestrum” (2 Macc. 4: “[God] open your hearts in his law and commandments, and send you peace”), the first response from the first nocturne of the first Sunday in October. Rather than referencing the Maccabees text, an epistle of the Jews in Jerusalem to those in Egypt, the miniature illustrates a scene seldom found in manuscript art: a female saint preaching to a group of men and women. In the upper compartment the gesticulating saint addresses a divided group of five men and four women, all dressed in secular garb. The palette is Bolognese. Square notation and text of later date added in the bottom margin of the verso.Provenance: Formerly folder 19.ID Number: CornellMedMS_061_001.jpg (a); CornellMedMS_061_002.jpg (b).

Dates

  • Mid-fourteenth century
  • 1350.

Creator

Language of Materials

Collection material in various languages, including Latin, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, and Hebrew.

Extent

3 cubic feet.

Physical Description

Size: 481 x 355 mm (363 x 256 mm) Four staves: 27.9 mm.

Repository Details

Part of the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections Repository

Contact:
2B Carl A. Kroch Library
Cornell University
Ithaca NY 14853
607-255-3530
607-255-9524 (Fax)