Detail View: The AMICA Library: Cutting from a Missal: Initial C with the Adoration of the Magi

AMICA ID: 
CMA_.1999.137.2
AMICA Library Year: 
2001
Object Type: 
Books
Creator Nationality: 
European; Northern European; German
Creator Name-CRT: 
Germany, Franconia or Saxony (?) or Silesia (?), 15th century
Title: 
Three Cuttings from a Missal: Initial C with the Adoration of the Magi
Title Type: 
Primary
Title: 
Cutting from a Missal: Initial C with the Adoration of the Magi
Title Type: 
Former
View: 
Full View
Creation Date: 
c. 1470-1500
Creation Start Date: 
1465
Creation End Date: 
1505
Materials and Techniques: 
ink, tempera and gold on vellum
Classification Term: 
Manuscript
Creation Place: 
Franconia
Creation Place: 
possibly Saxony
Creation Place: 
possibly Silesia
Dimensions: 
Each leaf: 9.4cm x 8cm
AMICA Contributor: 
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Owner Location: 
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
ID Number: 
1999.137.2
Credit Line: 
The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection
Rights: 
Provenance: 
[Bruce Ferrini, Akron]
Context: 
Three Cuttings from a Missal,Initial C: Adoration of the Magi[Cat. no. 78.b (CMA 1999.137.2)]about 1470-1500Germany (Franconia or Saxony?) or Silesia(?)Ink, tempera, and gold on vellumThe Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection [Cat. nos. 78a-c]These three cuttings are illuminated in a style that is somewhat provincial and difficult to localize. The figures relate to late 15th-century German woodcut illustration, but also vaguely recall Franconian sculpture and Saxon painting. The figures are simply, though charmingly, sketched in heavy black ink with little attention to finesse of line or detail. The palette is confined to dark hues of red, blue, and ochre with flesh tones either left white or colored pink. The style hints at an origin in Franconia, Saxony, or Silesia.The initial "E" includes a form of musical notation called Hufnagalshrift or "Horseshoe nail writing"because it resembles the nails used to affix horseshoes. Hufnagalshrift appears almost exclusively in manuscripts produced in Germanic Central Europe. The use of different colored lines in the musical stave is a known feature of Saxony. The text Exultet iam angelica (Rejoice now angel) begins the prayer used only on Holy Saturday during the Easter Vigil. It was sung by the priest at Mass to a very special and ancient melody.
Link to Work: 
CMA_.1999.137.1-3
Related Image Identifier Link: 
CMA_.1999.137.2.tif