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14th c. swiss choir book illuminations
pages from the gradual of st. katharinenthal, a large-format liturgical choir book produced in the dominican convent st. katharinental and illuminated in the lake constance region, c. 1312
source: Zürich, SNM, LM 26117, fol. 161v, 178v, and 231v
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the creation: division of light and darkness and division of the waters above and below the firmament
historiated initials from the "bible historiale complétée" by guiard des moulins, illuminated by the "fauvel master", paris, c. 1320-40
source: The Hague, KB, 71 A 23, fol. 2r and 3r
A collection of four historiated initials from the mid 16th century that depict nobleman hunting on horseback.
Images from: Aristotle's Rettorica, et Poetica d'Aristotile. Firenze : Appresso Lorenzo Torrentino, impressor' ducale, 1549. Call Number: PA3899 .S45 1549 Catalog Record: https://bit.ly/38tJ0eZ
These plates and initials come from a 19th century work on the history of English armor from the middle ages to the 1600s.
Images from: Samuel Rush Meyrick. A critical inquiry into antient armour... London : printed by G. Schulze, 1824. Call Number: U810 .M5 C7 1824 Vol. 3 Catalog record for images: https://bit.ly/2kCDiCn
This 1540 edition of Thucydides's History of the Peloponnesian War is printed in the original Greek and features woodcut initials as well as a printer's device. In addition, it has been heavily annotated in both Greek and Latin.
Images from: Thucydides cum scholiis et antiquis et utilibus sine quibus autor intellectu multum est difficilis. Basileae : Ex officina Hervagiana, 1540. Call Number: DF229 .T56 G7 1540 Catalog Record: https://bit.ly/2ZmjKAp
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We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: we are obsessed with historiated initials! These examples can be found in our copy of Pliny the Elder’s Historiae Mundi Libri XXXVII, printed in 1549 by the Froben printing house in Basel.
The letter “H” on top contains the story of Hercules and Antaeus. Antaeus was a wrestler who was invincible as long as he remained in contact with the earth. Hercules encountered him while he was carrying out the twelve labors and defeated him by hoisting him aloft and crushing him to death.
The letter “B” refers to the biblical story of Balaam and his donkey. The prophet Balaam was on his way to visit the King of Moab and place a curse on the Israelites, when an angel appeared in the middle of the road. At first, only Balaam’s donkey could see it, causing her to balk and refuse to go forward. Balaam beat her in an attempt to spur her on, and to his surprise, she turned her head and demanded what she had done to deserve such treatment. The angel then revealed itself to Balaam and told him that God disapproved of cursing the Israelites, but, strangely enough, allowed him to continue onward.
A-typical?
Look how tiny the letter A is in this opening initial! It is also interesting that the letter is in a roman font as opposed to the fraktur text that follows. The framing definitely draws the eye first to the central scene of devotion rather than the A.
From a 16th century German work by Catholic theologian Johann Faber.
Fabri, Johann, 1504-1558. Was die Euangelisch Mess sey, grundtliche vnnd christenliche anzaigung, auss der heyligen geschrifft, vnnd auss den alten heyligen Kirchen lerern, zu trost vnd sterckung der Glaubigen ... Gedruckt zu Dilingen, durch Sebaldum Mayer. M.D.LV.
Initial letters taken from ‘Scrapbook of Historiated Initials’ by Adam Luke Gowans ( graduated with an MA from the University of Glasgow in 1895 ).
Glasgow School of Art.
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