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Historiated initial from a Gradual: Marlay cutting It. 20

An image of Cutting (manuscript)
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An image of Cutting (manuscript)
An image of Cutting (manuscript)
An image of Cutting (manuscript)
An image of Cutting (manuscript)
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Current Location: In storage

Titles

Historiated initial from a Gradual

Maker(s)

Artist: Cortese, Cristoforo

Entities

Categories

Description

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Parchment, trimmed initial 230 x 165 mm, three lines of fragmentary text ruled in plummet and three four-line musical staves ruled in red ink on reverse.

CONTENTS: The initial introduced the Introit to the Mass on Palm Sunday, D[omine ne longe facias auxilium tuum a me]; fragmentary text on reverse, Sis pius ac… / …tu et nos fi… /…llus. V[ersiculum] Te.

DECORATION: Historiated initial in blue with delicate white floral pattern and fleshy acanthus on burnished gold background: [D] Entry into Jerusalem.

ORNAMENTATION: Two one-line pen-flourished initials on reverse, S in blue with red pen-flourishing and T in red with blue pen-flourishing.

Notes

History note: William Young Ottley (1771-1836); inscription in black ink on reverse containing the subject matter, dating the initial to c.1490 and identifying the initial as from the ‘Ottley collection’; numbers and codes on reverse: ‘79’ in pencil, ‘K’ in black ink, ‘2390’ in black ink, ‘2398 – ku’ in pencil; Thomas Miller Whitehead, acquired by 1885; (1831-1912), Charles Brinsley Marlay (1831-1912), acquired in April 1886; his bequest, 1912.

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1912) by Marlay, Charles Brinsley

Dating

15th Century, Early
Circa 1410 CE - Circa 1420 CE

Citation for print

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The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Historiated initial from a Gradual" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/176544 Accessed: 2025-12-05 07:14:51

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