Virgin and Child,
Large historiated initial C, cutting from a Dominican Antiphonal on vellum.
Northern Italy, Friuli (?), 1310-20.
Virgin and Child,
Large historiated initial C, cutting from a Dominican Antiphonal on vellum.
Northern Italy, Friuli (?), 1310-20.
This work is now sold.
The present unrecorded cutting is from an illuminated Antiphonal in Latin for the Dominican order. The Virgin stands very tall and upright, filling out the entire height of the letter C; in fact, she even overlaps the letter’s body. Her figure is framed by a bell-shape in old rose that could be interpreted as a cloth of honour. Mary is clad in a grey cloak over a red dress. The Christ Child, whose contour merges with his mother’s silhouette to emphasize the union of the two, raises one hand in blessing. His tunic matches the very pale rose of the letter’s body.
The halos of mother and child as well as dots in the four corners of the background are covered with burnished gold. It is a striking feature of this artist that he likes to add fine lines or contours in black or white to his illumination. White lines are used to define the draperies of Mary’s coat, whereas thin black outlines serve to define the hands and facial features. The faces are dominated by overlarge almond-shaped eyes.
Twenty sister leaves are known in various public and private collections across the globe. Our cutting with the initial C likely introduced, “Cum in ducerent puerum Jesum parentes ejus, accepit eum Simeon in ulnas suas…” for the feast Purificatio Virginis on the 2nd of February. The antiphon on the rear, “Benedicta tu”, also belongs to this feast.
