Beschreibung:

AGONY IN THE GARDEN, historiated initial I on a leaf from an ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT CHOIRBOOK ON VELLUM
AGONY IN THE GARDEN, historiated initial I on a leaf from an ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT CHOIRBOOK ON VELLUM [Italy, probably Emilia, end of 13th century] 455 x 305mm leaf; 240 x 39mm initial. The initial shows Christ kneeling in prayer on the Mount of Olives with God's hand reaching from a cloud to bless Him, two apostles stand below, the figures are set against a blue background to form the initial I. Seven lines of text in black ink written in a gothic bookhand between seven lines of music of square notation on a four-line stave of red on both recto and verso, the verso with two large flourished initials, one red with blue penwork the other blue with red. The number 150 is written in the outer margin of the verso. This is the opening of the Responsory In monti oliveti oravi ad patrem and the present leaf must once have opened the Office for Holy Thursday in an Antiphonal. The guide letter for one of the flourished initials on the verso survives and in the same faint ink 'istoriate' is written beside the illuminated initial - it appears to be the scribe's instruction on the grade of initial to be supplied. The faces and hands are described with careful pen-drawn outlines and with grey shading the unpainted surface of the vellum serving as the basic flesh-tone. The restricted color range -- two blues, pale pink, orange and brown -- suggests a date no later than the early years of the 14th century.