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Dominican Missal Leaf

Dominican Missal Leaf

Culture: Italian

Collected by: Otto F. Ege (American, 1888 - 1951)

Date: c. 1353 A.D.
Medium: opaque watercolor, gold, and ink on vellum
Dimensions:
Sheet: 10 1/4 x 7 in. (26 x 17.8 cm)
Credit Line:Gift, Mrs. Otto F. Ege from the Otto F. Ege Collection
Object number: 1956.32.30.11

This leaf, from a Dominican Missal, provides instructions for the Christmas Mass. The Dominicans are an order of mendicant friars established in the early thirteenth century. They followed the teachings of St. Dominic, and unlike monks, their mission was to go into the secular world and preach the Christian message. 

The illumination is typical of the style produced in Perugia in the middle of the fourteenth century. The script is a form of Italian blackletter known as rotunda, and is less angular than the script used in northern centers. The historiated “P” in the right-hand column shows the Virgin, identified by her iconic blue and red clothing and gold halo, holding the infant Jesus, with an attendant in blue on the right.

 

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