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Initial B with David as a musician

Ferrara, Italy, ca. 1453-1482

Illuminator (Artist): Franco dei Russi

This initial begins Psalm 1, “Beatus uir qui non abiit in consilio impiorum …” (Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly), which was read at Matins on Sundays. The illumination has been attributed to Franco dei Russi, a Mantuan artist who spent a good portion of his career in Ferrara. Among his patrons was Borso d’Este, the half-brother of Ercole I d’Este, Duke of Ferrara.
This leaf has a discoloration in the parchment, probably owing to use. In addition, there appears to be evidence of acidic ink in the script, which in the case of one “O” has eaten through the parchment, creating a round hole.

Free Library of Philadelphia Lewis E M 70:3

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Leaf from an antiphonary: Initial C with a funeral scene

Northern Italy, c. 1450

Script: Rotunda

Parchment with ink, paint, and gold

Notation: Square

This initial begins the first response of the first nocturn of Matins for the Office of the Dead, “Credo quod redemptor meus vivit …” (I believe that my redeemer liveth).  As a series of prayers recited to help speed the soul to heaven, the Office of the Dead was usually illustrated with scenes from contemporary medieval funerary practices.  In this initial, the priest sprinkles holy water with an aspergillum on the corpse as two mourners kneel beside the bed. 

The Office of the Dead consists of four hours: First Vespers or Placebo, Mass, Matins or Dirige (from which the term “dirge” is derived), and Lauds or Exultabunt.

Free Library of Philadelphia Lewis E M 68:14

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Calligraphy book bound in an antiphonal leaf

Italy, 1774

Script: Gothic

Parchment with ink and paint

Notation: Square

This book of calligraphy samples is bound in an antiphonal leaf inscribed with Psalm 85. Medieval music leaves were frequently used for scrap from the Middle Ages through the nineteenth century. Liturgical decisions would be made in a monastic community, rendering some parts of services useless and the pages would be used as binding and scrap material or even as scratch materials for jotting down recipes and the like. The person who used this book for calligraphic practice probably felt that the antiphonal leaf was attractive and chose to use it for the binding itself.

Free Library of Philadelphia Lewis E 55

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Leaf from a polyphonic choir book

England, ca. 1400

Script: Gothic

Parchment with ink and paint

Notation: Black mensural notation

This leaf is from a choir book: the verso is from a Te Deum, and the recto has part of an Agnus Dei and Sanctus. The recto (shown) is the countertenor part from an Agnus Dei. The notation indicates that the music is mensural, which is to say that each note has a specific value, much like our modern notation. Coloration in the notes designates particular values: notes after 1400 could be black-full, black-void, red-full, red-void. This leaf uses many black-full notes and is probably English.

From about 1225, vocal scores for polyphonic music were written so that each different voice part was written on different fields of the page.  This leaf appears to be from such a manuscript, as the verso has the high part of a Te Deum (which would have been in the upper left-hand quadrant of the page or at the top) and the recto has the countertenor part of an Agnus Dei (the upper right-hand quadrant of the page).  The first version of a vocal score as we know it, with all the parts stacked on top of each other in descending registers, did not appear until the mid-sixteenth century. 

Free Library of Philadelphia, Lewis Text Leaf 12:385

Fragments from a gradual
Burgundy, France, ca. 1475

Script: Gothic bookhand

Parchment with ink and paint

Notation: Square

This book is a compilation of eighteen leaves taken from the same medieval gradual. It has been suggested that the pages are from the same Carthusian house in Dijon as the Morgan Library’s M. 115: the calligraphic decoration is quite possibly by the same hand.
The opening shown here is to a page of music with a facing page of a liturgical calendar. The music is from Psalm 78: “Attendite popule meus legem meam: inclinate aurem vestram in verba oris mei…” (Hear my law, O my people: incline your ears unto the words of my mouth). This text is used for the Masses for the Nineteenth through the Twenty-first Sundays after Pentecost. Two inhabited initials adorn the page: one is a caricature of a bishop wearing tinted glasses.

The facing page is an excellent example of a medieval liturgical calendar. It is graded: more important days or feast days are written in red ink; the rest are written in black. The red days are so-called “red-letter days,” and the term survives to our modern day. The KL at the upper left-hand side of the page is for the kalends of the month. Kalends was the term used by the ancient Romans for the beginning of the month, and the word calendar is derived from it. The columns on the left-hand side of the page contain the Golden Numbers, the Dominical Letters, and a countdown to the next month. Golden Numbers and Dominical Letters enable the medieval calendar user to calculate the date of Easter each year.

There is an added bonus in the post in that images have been added of the penwork on a page prior to the opening exhibited. The penwork includes a man in the moon.

Free Library of Philadelphia Lewis E 8

Link to larger image of gradual side of opening (verso).

Link to larger size of calendar side of page (recto).

Link to close-up of bishop grotesque.

Link to close-up of man-in-moon penwork.

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Leaf from an Antiphonary: Initial L with St. Augustine blessing three acolytes

Germany–Regensburg, ca. 1300

Script: Gothic

Parchment with ink, paint, and gold

Notation: Square

Begins the first antiphon of first Vespers for the feast of St. Augustine (Aug. 28), “Letare, mater nostra ierusalem …” (Rejoice, our Mother Jerusalem). Augustine of Hippo (354-430) was a Doctor of the Church and became Bishop of Hippo in North Africa in 396. His writings include Confessions and City of God  and have dominated Western Christian theology since his lifetime. This leaf can be dated to ca. 1300-1310.

Free Library of Philadelphia, Lewis E M 42:13

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Antiphonary, Dominican use: Feast of St. John the Apostle, December 27

France, early 14^th century

Script: Gothic bookhand (part one); Rotunda semitextualis (part two)

Parchment with ink and paint

Notation: Square

This antiphonary was made in France and eventually made its way to Italy by the 16^th century, as there are added chants at the end of the volume which can clearly be dated to Italy in that time period.

This decorated initial U begins the response for the first nocturn of Matins for the Feast of St. John the Apostle, Dec. 27: “Valde honorandus est beatus iohannes qui supra pectus domini in cena recubuit. . .” (Very highly we must venerate blessed John; for during the Last Supper he reclined on the breast of the Lord). The page has been mended with green thread, possibly in the 18^th or 19^th century. This entire volume was well-used and well-worn, as it has mendings throughout, in addition to rips and tears from use.

Free Library of Philadelphia Lewis E 6 f158v
 

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Processional: Miniature depicting the Feast of St. John the Baptist, June 24

Paris, France, c. 1510

Script: Gothic bookhand

Parchment with ink, paint, and gold

Notation: Square

Although this processional is from the early Renaissance period, it was considered for some time to be from the medieval period, owing to its style and decoration. A processional is a personal book containing the appropriate music for liturgical processions. This book is made of fine French vellum, and is a handsome specimen: it is decorated throughout with insects, birds, and frogs, and was made for use at the Dominican house in Poissy, France.

This miniature shows St. John the Baptist, accompanied by his attribute, the Lamb of God, holding a Christian flag in its mouth.  John the Baptist is usually recognizable in medieval art by his shaggy clothing and wild hair, which is meant to remind the medieval viewer of John’s humble lifestyle.

Free Library of Philadelphia Lewis E 7, f101v

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Gradual: Initial G with St. Mary Magdalene

Italy, ca. 1425

Script: Rotunda

Parchment with ink, paint, and gold

Notation: Square

This gradual is a shared book, and is enormous owing to the need of the choir to see it from a distance. A gradual contains the music needed for the Mass.

This historiated initial G begins the Introit for the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene (July 22), “Gaudeamus omnes in Domino diem festum celebrantes sub honore Mariae Magdalene…” (Let us all rejoice in the Lord celebrating the feast in honor of Mary Magdalene). According to The Golden Legend, Mary retired to the wilderness after the ascension of Christ, and each day was borne aloft by angels at the seven canonical hours so that she could hear the heavenly hosts. The angels appear in this historiated initial, as does the foliage of the wilderness. The long hair pictured here can be attributed to its status as part of her iconography: Mary washes Jesus’ feet with her tears in penitence and dries them with her long hair.  There is also a legend of 11^th-century origin that Mary’s hair miraculously grows to cover her nakedness when she goes into the desert as a penitent. 

Free Library of Philadelphia, Lewis E 73

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Initial G with the Coronation of the Virgin Mary, August 15

Perugia, Italy – c. 1325

Script: Rotunda
Parchment with ink, paint, and gold

Notation: Square

This initial begins the Introit for the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin, “Gaudeamus omnes in domino diem festi celebrantes sub honore Marie virginis …” (Let all rejoice in the Lord, celebrating a festival day in honor of the Virgin Mary). The image of Mary being crowned by her son Jesus Christ as Queen of Heaven or physically being assumed into heaven is a popular scene from the Middle Ages.  The end of Mary’s days is frequently used as the image seen for Compline, the final hour in the Little Hours of the Virgin seen in medieval books of hours.

Free Library of Philadelphia E M 72:16
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