Nativity of the BVM, Sept. 8

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Leaf from an Antiphonary:

Initial N with the Nativity of the Virgin, September 8

 

Flanders, ca. 1325

Script: Gothic bookhand

Parchment with ink, paint, and gold

Notation: Hufnagel

 

This initial begins the first response of the first nocturn of Matins for the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin (Sept. 8), “Nativitas tua dei genitrix virgo gaudium  annunciauit universo mundo …” (Your birth, O Virgin Mother of God, heralded joy to all the world).

There is stitching in several places on this leaf: sewing was a common way to repair parchment in the Middle Ages and beyond, as parchment is animal skin.

The bas-de-page depicts a dog chasing a rabbit: bottom border illustrations such as these were common in the first half of the fourteenth century, particularly in Flanders.  This leaf has Hufnagel musical notation: Hufnagel is a German term resulting from a comparison between the appearance of the notation’s virga (single note of relatively higher pitch) to a horseshoe-nail. This leaf is also a fine example of the use of the F line and the C line: the F is marked and colored red; the C is marked and colored yellow.

Free Library of Philadelphia Lewis E M 42:17