In illuminated manuscripts there was usually a hierarchy of initials marking important divisions in the text. At this time these were added by specialist illuminators and rubricators in spaces left blank by the scribe. The more important initials might be historiated with a figurative picture ('istoire' being the term for a story) or contain miniatures of representations of the Saints. In Italy illuminated choirbooks and liturgical manuscripts contained large numbers of miniature paintings. Choirbooks in particular were produced in sets of many volumes (often more than thirty).

From the early nineteenth century onwards such choirbooks provided an easy source of images that connoisseurs eagerly sought to add to their collections of paintings. Manuscripts could be cut up to make them more marketable and pleasing to the collector. Single leaves survive, but also initials, as here, cut to shape.

The illuminations gathered by the South Kensington Museum in the nineteenth century represented a new kind of collection, which aimed to provide examples of medieval illumination for students to copy. From the beginning the Museum bought ready-made collections. A portfolio of cuttings from an Italian choirbook, from which this cutting comes, was acquired from J. & W. Boone in 1866.