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Historiated initial from a Cistercian Gradual

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

Initial R in red with a blue border with six Cistercian monks singing at a lectern. Above them another monk plays an organ. All on burnished gold ground.
Other side: Text too generic to be identified.
‘…leyson. Kyri
[…]eyson. Gloria. Gloria.
[…]yrie. In duplicibus [maioribus written above this rubric]

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleHistoriated initial from a Cistercian Gradual
Materials and techniques
Brief description
Historiated initial R with Cistercian monks singing and playing music, Eastern Netherlands (Gelderland or Western Germany), 1st half of the 14th century.
Physical description
Initial R in red with a blue border with six Cistercian monks singing at a lectern. Above them another monk plays an organ. All on burnished gold ground.
Other side: Text too generic to be identified.
‘…leyson. Kyri
[…]eyson. Gloria. Gloria.
[…]yrie. In duplicibus [maioribus written above this rubric]
Dimensions
  • Height: 152mm
  • Width: 134mm
Production typeUnique
Gallery label
Fragmented Illuminations: Medieval and Renaissance Manuscript Cuttings at the V&A, 08/09/2021 - 26/06/2022, rooms 88A-90



Identifying Patrons

These three pieces came from choirbooks made for different religious communities. Choirbooks are named thus because choirs sang from them in church, an activity brought to life in the illuminated initial ‘R’ [top left cutting]. The different clothing worn by the monks and nuns indicates which religious order they belonged to: white for Cistercians [left cuttings] and white with a black veil for Camaldolese nuns, a strand of the Benedictine order [right leaf].



Clockwise from top left:

Initial ‘R’ with monks singing and playing the organ, from a
Cistercian gradual

Probably Guelders, Eastern Netherlands, about 1300–50

Museum no. 8990A



Leaf with King David presenting his soul to God the Father,
from a Camaldolese gradual

Attributed to Lippo Vanni (active about 1340–75)

Possibly Siena, Italy, about 1350–75

Ink, gold, watercolour and bodycolour on parchment

Museum no. 4149



Initial ‘C’ with monks attacked by Death and dragged into Hell,
from a Cistercian choirbook

Netherlands, about 1500–30

Ink, gold, watercolour and bodycolour on parchment

Museum no. 9004H
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.192 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
192 - Cancelled number
Collection
Accession number
8990A

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
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