Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level H , Case MS CUTTINGS, Shelf TEMP 2

Historiated initial from a Cistercian Gradual

Manuscript Cutting
1st half 14th century (made)
Place of origin

Historiated initial R with Resurrection with Christ above and the three sleeping soldiers in armour below. All on burnished gold ground.Cut-out historiated initial R (Christ, bearing white banner with black "maltese" cross stepping out of tomb over three sleeping soldiers) ; grotesques within initial and in border
This initial would have been the first letter of the the beginning of the introit for Easter, ‘Resurrexi…’ ('I am risen...').


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleHistoriated initial from a Cistercian Gradual
Materials and techniques
Brief description
Historiated initial R with Resurrection, Eastern Netherlands (Gelderland or Western Germany), 1st half of the 14th century.
Physical description
Historiated initial R with Resurrection with Christ above and the three sleeping soldiers in armour below. All on burnished gold ground.Cut-out historiated initial R (Christ, bearing white banner with black "maltese" cross stepping out of tomb over three sleeping soldiers) ; grotesques within initial and in border
This initial would have been the first letter of the the beginning of the introit for Easter, ‘Resurrexi…’ ('I am risen...').
Production typeUnique
Object history
Part of cuttings purchased in batches from William Henry James Weale in 1883, 95 on 9 April 1883, 258 on 17 April 1883, 20 on 20 February, for the total sum of £96.7.2 (now Museum nos 8972-9042).
A duplicate number MS.191 was assigned to this object in error and was subsequently cancelled.

Cuttings from the same manuscript in the V&A collection: Museum nos 8990A, 8990B, 9005A, 9005B.

Cuttings from the same manuscript in other collections: Christie's London, 6 December 1989, lot 1; formerly Kofler-Truniger collection, Lucerne, and later Jörn Günther Antiquariat, Catalogue 6 (2002), no.27; Sotheby's, 3 December 2013, part of lot 17, and subsequently De Brailes, Catalogue One, no.I and Catalogue Two, no.II; McCarthy Collection, BM1606 and 1607 (see Kidd 2016 and Kidd 2019, no. 23).
Associated objects
Bibliographic references
  • Catalogue of illuminated manuscripts : Part II, Miniatures, leaves, and cuttings, by S.C. Cockerell and E.F. Strange (London: HMSO, 1908, 1st edition). p. 25 (as Flemish, early 14th century).
  • Catalogue of Miniatures, Leaves, and Cuttings from Illuminated Manuscripts. Victoria and Albert Museum. Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design, by S.C. Cockerell and C. Harcourt Smith (London: HMSO, 1923, 2nd edition). p. 20 (as Flemish, early 14th century).
  • Kidd P., 'Cuttings from an Early 14th-Century Cistercian Gradual', and 'Cuttings from a Cistercian Gradual' from Manuscript Provenance blog, July 2016 [last accessed 25/03/2020].
  • Kidd P., The McCarthy Collection. Vol. II: Spanish, English, Flemish and Central European miniatures, London: Ad Ilissum, 2019. pp. 120-123 in relation to no. 23 (as Eastern Netherlands (Gelderland? or Western Germany), 1st half of the 14th century.
Other number
191 - Cancelled number
Collection
Accession number
9005B

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
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