id: 111528
accession number: 1930.105
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1930.105
updated:
Initial G[audeamus omnes] from a Gradual: The Court of Heaven, 1371–77. Don Silvestro dei Gherarducci (Italian, 1339–1399). Ink, tempera, and gold on vellum; sheet: 38.6 x 36.5 cm (15 3/16 x 14 3/8 in.); framed: 68.9 x 53 cm (27 1/8 x 20 7/8 in.); matted: 63.5 x 47.6 cm (25 x 18 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1930.105
title: Initial G[audeamus omnes] from a Gradual: The Court of Heaven
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: 1371–77
creation date earliest: 1371
creation date latest: 1377
current location:
creditline: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
copyright:
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culture: Italy, Florence, 14th century
technique: ink, tempera, and gold on vellum
department: Medieval Art
collection: MED - Manuscript Illuminations
type: Manuscript
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
* Don Silvestro dei Gherarducci (Italian, 1339–1399) - artist
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measurements: Sheet: 38.6 x 36.5 cm (15 3/16 x 14 3/8 in.); Framed: 68.9 x 53 cm (27 1/8 x 20 7/8 in.); Matted: 63.5 x 47.6 cm (25 x 18 3/4 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition
opening date: 1936-06-26T04:00:00
The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 26-October 12, 1936).
title: The Silver Jubilee Exhibition
opening date: 1941-06-23T04:00:00
The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).
title: The International Style: The Arts in Europe around 1400
opening date: 1962-10-23T04:00:00
The International Style: The Arts in Europe around 1400. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, MD (organizer) (October 23-December 2, 1962).
title: Gothic Art 1360-1440
opening date: 1963-08-06T04:00:00
Gothic Art 1360-1440. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 6-September 15, 1963).
title: Exhibition of Sienese and Florentine Manuscripts
opening date: 1965-02-24T05:00:00
Exhibition of Sienese and Florentine Manuscripts. Wildenstein & Co., London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (February 24-April 10, 1965).
title: Florence and the Arts: Five Centuries of Patronage
opening date: 1971-10-29T04:00:00
Florence and the Arts: Five Centuries of Patronage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 29, 1971-January 2, 1972).
title: Italian Renaissance Illuminations
opening date: 1973-12-16T05:00:00
Italian Renaissance Illuminations. High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA (organizer) (December 16, 1973-February 15, 1974).
title: The Decorated Letter and the Illuminator's Art
opening date: 1993-09-25T04:00:00
The Decorated Letter and the Illuminator's Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 25-December 19, 1993).
title: Illuminated Manuscripts
opening date: 2004-10-10T00:00:00
Illuminated Manuscripts. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (October 10, 2004-October 2, 2005).
title: Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art
opening date: 2007-05-10T00:00:00
Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. National Museum of Bavaria, Munich, Germany (May 10-September 16, 2007); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 13-June 7, 2009).
title: The Glory of the Painted Page: Manuscript Illuminations from the Permanent Collection
opening date: 2010-11-06T00:00:00
The Glory of the Painted Page: Manuscript Illuminations from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 6, 2010-April 17, 2011).
title: Italian Choral Books of the Renaissance (Manuscript Rotation) - Gallery 115
opening date: 2015-12-10T05:00:00
Italian Choral Books of the Renaissance (Manuscript Rotation) - Gallery 115. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 10, 2015-December 12, 2016).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* Illuminated Books of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore (January 27-March 13, 1949).
Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts, Los Angeles County Museum, California (November 25, 1953-January 9, 1954).
The International Style, The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore (October 23-December 2, 1962).
The Art of Painting in Florence and Siena from 1250 to 1500, Wildenstein & Co., London, England (1965).
Italian Renaissance Illuminations, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia (December 16, 1973-February 15, 1974).
Paintings and Illumination in Early Renaissance Florence 1300-1450, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (November 18, 1994-February 26, 1995).
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PROVENANCE
W.Y. Ottley (London, 1838, no. 182); Edouard Kann, Paris.
date:
footnotes:
citations:
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fun fact:
digital description:
wall description:
This elegant and colorful initial G comes from a multivolume set of choral books illuminated by Don Silvestro, a Camaldolese monk, for his monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Florence. In the original book, this initial would have introduced the text: Gaudeamus omnes in Domino (“Let us rejoice in the Lord”), the beginning of Introit, the introduction, for the Feast of All Saints on November 1. This beautiful initial is generally considered to be the artist’s masterpiece.
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
Cleveland Museum of Art. Catalogue of the Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition of the Cleveland Museum of Art: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition : June Twenty-Sixth to October Fourth 1936. [Cleveland, Ohio]: [Cleveland Museum of Art], 1936.
page number: no. 135, p. 58, repr. pl. XIII
url:
Walters Art Gallery (Baltimore, Md.), and Dorothy Eugenia Miner. Illuminated Books of the Middle Ages and Renaissance: An Exhibition Held at the Baltimore Museum of Art, January 27-March 13. Baltimore: Trustees of the Walters Art Gallery, 1949.
page number: cat. no. 175, p. 64, repr. pl. LXVII
url:
Los Angeles County Calif. Museum, Los Angeles. Mediaeval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts; A Loan Exhibition, November 25, 1953-January 9, 1954. 1953.
page number: no. 100
url:
Walters Art Gallery (Baltimore, Md.). The International Style: The Arts in Europe Around 1400; [Exhibition]: October 23-December 2, 1962, / B. [Baltimore, Md.]: Walters Art Gallery, 1962.
page number: no. 74, p. 75
url:
Cleveland Museum of Art. A Missal for a King: Gothic Art, 1360-1440 [Cleveland]: [The Museum], 1963.
page number: p. 181
url:
Gore, St. John, and Denys Sutton. The Art of Painting in Florence & Siena from 1250 to 1500; A Loan Exhibition, 24 February-10 April 1965, Wildenstein. [London]: [Wildenstein], 1965.
page number: p. 12, no. 19
url:
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
page number: Reproduced: p. 57
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n81
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
page number: Reproduced: p. 57
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n81
Pillsbury, Edmund P. Florence and the Arts; Five Centuries of Patronage. 1971.
page number: no. 44
url:
High Museum of Art. Italian Renaissance Illuminations: December 14, 1973-February 15, 1974, the High Museum of Art. [Atlanta]: [High Museum of Art], 1973.
page number: cat. no. 21, repr. fig 6
url:
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page number: Reproduced: p. 65
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n85
Kanter, Laurence B. Painting and Illumination in Early Renaissance Florence, 1300-1450. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1994.
page number:
url:
Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007.
page number: Mentioned and reproduced: P. 270-271, no. 102
url:
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1930.105/1930.105_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1930.105/1930.105_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1930.105/1930.105_full.tif