Illuminated Manuscript Leaf from a Large Antiphonary

Manuscript on vellum, illuminated initial with gold leaf, intricate foliate decorations to margins of recto. Single column, five lines of text in black, five-line staves in red.

The leaf comes from a large and particularly elaborate Antiphonary / Gradual, likely produced in southern Germany or Italy in the second half of the 15th century. The text on the recto (beginning with the illuminated initial) reads Mentem sanctam spontaneam honorem deo et patriae liberationem, translated roughly as ‘with a holy mind, willing, bringing honour to God, and liberty to her fatherland’, text which begins the Magnificat at First Vespers on the feast of Saint Agatha. The text on the verso, templo et Simeon repletus spiritu sancto accepit eum in ulnas et benedixit deum, is from the Purification of Mary, a liturgical chant referencing the purification undertaken by the Virgin Mary in the temple in Jerusalem 40 days after Christ’s birth, in accordance with Mosaic Law.

While leaves from Antiphonaries are plentiful on the open market, less common are such elaborately decorated ones as this, reflecting high production standards and the wealth of the monastic house for which it was copied.