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Initial from an Antiphoner: MS Marlay 18.i

An image of Cutting (manuscript)
View image details Mirador icon - view image Mirador deep zoom IIIF Manifest IIIF Manifest Slow looking

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

Titles

Initial from an Antiphoner

Entities

Categories

Description

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Parchment, 238 x 217 mm, three lines of fragmentary text and three fragmentary four-line musical staves ruled in red on reverse

CONTENTS: The initial introduced the antiphon for Lauds on Easter Sunday, Angelus domini descendit de caelo et accedens, which continues on the reverse, revolvit lapid[em et se]debat super eum…alleluya alleluya.

DECORATION: Historiated initial formed of stylized masonry on burnished gold ground, with green branches and laurel leaves, symbolic of the Resurrection, growing through the masonry and terminating in a blue flower: [A, 3 text lines and 3 musical staves] Resurrection, with the Angel lifting the lid of the tomb, as the soldiers fall backwards and the two Women approach from the distance.

Notes

History note: Pierre-Henri Gélis Didot (1853–1902); his sale, Paris, 12–13 April 1897, lot 111 (nos. 1-3)

Acquisition and important dates

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

Dating

15th Century, third quarter
Production date: circa AD 1460

People, subjects and objects depicted

Project

  • Cambridge Illuminated

Materials used in production

Gold

Components of the work

Support composed of parchment

Techniques used in production

Illumination

References and bibliographic entries

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: MS Marlay 18.i
Primary reference Number: 176528
Project ID: 1347

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Tuesday 3 December 2024

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Manuscripts and Printed Books

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Initial from an Antiphoner" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/176528 Accessed: 2025-12-05 06:19:18

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{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/176528 |title=Initial from an Antiphoner |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-05 06:19:18|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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