id: 126808
accession number: 1949.202
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1949.202
updated: 2023-08-25 11:18:33.603000
Cutting from an Antiphonary: Initial A[spiciens a longe]: The Tree of Jesse, c. 1115–1125. Germany, Meuse Valley, 12th century. Ink, tempera, and gold on vellum; sheet: 18 x 16 cm (7 1/16 x 6 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1949.202
title: Cutting from an Antiphonary: Initial A[spiciens a longe]: The Tree of Jesse
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: c. 1115–1125
creation date earliest: 1115
creation date latest: 1125
current location:
creditline: Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
copyright:
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culture: Germany, Meuse Valley, 12th 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
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measurements: Sheet: 18 x 16 cm (7 1/16 x 6 5/16 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
inscription: Ecce Virgo Consipiet et Pariet Filium
translation:
remark:
inscription: Domine inclina celos tuos et descende
translation:
remark:
inscription: Ego flos campi et llium convalluim
translation:
remark:
inscription: Ego sum lux mundi
translation:
remark:
inscription: In principio erat verbum
translation:
remark:
inscription: Ecce Agnus Dei
translation:
remark:
inscription: V (?) ex Syon species decoris eius
translation:
remark:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: The Tree of Life
opening date: 1955-01-07T05:00:00
The Tree of Life. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 7-March 8, 1955).
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).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
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PROVENANCE
C.G. Boerner, Leipzig, Germany
date:
footnotes:
citations:
Professor Robert Forrer (1866-1947), Strasbourg, France
date:
footnotes:
citations:
Mrs. Addie Wolff (Mrs. Otto H. Kahn) (d. 1949), New York, NY, sold to Joseph Brummer Gallery
date: ?-1943
footnotes:
citations:
(Joseph Brummer Gallery, sold to Vladimir G. Simkovitch)
date: 1943-1949
footnotes:
citations:
Vladimir G. Simkhovitch (1874-1959), New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
date: 1949
footnotes:
citations:
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
date: 1949-
footnotes:
citations:
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fun fact:
digital description:
wall description:
This complex initial "A" is formed of meandering plant tendrils, neatly and symmetrically placed at the center of a succession of square frames to which the letter is securely attached above and below. The whole forms a Tree of Jesse showing Christ's ancestors beginning with King David (bottom). The text would have begun, "Long have I been watching...." These are the words of Isaiah, who foresaw the coming of Christ. Isaiah's prophecies are the basis for the representations of the Tree of Jesse, often seen in medieval art.
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
Forrer, Robert. Unedierte Federzeichnungen, Miniaturen und Initialen des Mittelalters Vol. 2. Straßburg im Elsaß: Schlesier & Schweihhardt, 1907.
page number: pl. IV
url:
Watson, Arthur. The Early Iconography of the Tree of Jesse. London: Oxford University Press, H. Milford, 1934.
page number: Pl. XXXI
url:
The Brummer Gallery Records. Cloisters (Museum), n.d.
page number:
url: https://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16028coll9/id/19222/rec/1
Milliken, William M. "A Tree of Jesse." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 36, no. 8 (1949).
page number: pp. 156-58
url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25141575
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 103
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958/page/n32
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. 48
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n72
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. 48
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n70
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. 53
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n73
Hidrio, Guylène. L'iconographie du Speculum virginum. 2017.
page number: p. 55, no. 77
url:
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1949.202/1949.202_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1949.202/1949.202_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1949.202/1949.202_full.tif