Initial S[alve sancta parens]  from a Gradual: Madonna and Child

Description

Along with several other excised leaves and miniatures that survive in various libraries and museums, this decorated initial S was part of a magnificent gradual produced in the scriptorium of the monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Florence. The Madonna and Child was a standard image for the Saturday votive Mass to the Virgin. This initial originally introduced the text: Salve sancta parens (“Hail, Holy Mother”).

Provenance

Durlacher Brothers, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art (-1924); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1924-)

Initial S[alve sancta parens] from a Gradual: Madonna and Child

Don Silvestro dei Gherarducci

c. 1370–1374

Accession Number

1924.1012

Medium

ink, tempera, and gold on vellum

Dimensions

Sheet: 16 x 13 cm (6 5/16 x 5 1/8 in.)

Classification

Manuscript

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Gift from J. H. Wade