Northwest Italy, Early 16th Century. Written in black ink in a gothic lithurgical bookhand, in a single column, on five lines, 5-line red stave, with square notation, rubrics in red, red and blue decorated initials with intricate red penwork, zoomorphic Decorated Initial, composed of a Bird painted pale purple in a trompe l'oeil technique on a blue ground sparkled with gold dots with red and green flowers surrounded by a burnished gold leaf border, parchment of southern preparation, generous margins, in excellent condition (overall 36.125 x 24.125 inches, 915 x 610 mm; justification, 26.125 x 16.5 inches, 670 x 415 mm). The painted decoration, particularly the fish and the flowers, should be compared to that in cutting from a Gradual in Oxford (Bodleian Library, MS Douce 381 fols. 128-48; see Pacht and Alexander, Illuminated Manuscript, II, no. 915, p. 91, pl LXXIX). The 5-line (instead of 4-line) stave most likely indicates a date after the fifteenth century, although there are exceptions to this rule (see De Hamel, Illuminated Manuscripts, p. 204).
Vellum skin, double sided and decorated with pigments and gold. Apprx 37" x 24-1/2".
3,000/5,000
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