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
	<i>The Tree of Life</i>. 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
	<i>The Decorated Letter and the Illuminator's Art</i>. 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. <em>Unedierte Federzeichnungen, Miniaturen und Initialen des Mittelalters</em> Vol. 2. Straßburg im Elsaß: Schlesier &amp; Schweihhardt, 1907.
	page number: 	pl. IV
	url:		

	Watson, Arthur. <em>The Early Iconography of the Tree of Jesse</em>. 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." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 36, no. 8 (1949).
	page number: 	pp. 156-58
	url:		https://www.jstor.org/stable/25141575

	The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook.</em> 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. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966</em>. 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. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969</em>. 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. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 53
	url:		https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n73

	Hidrio, Guylène. <em>L'iconographie du Speculum virginum.</em> 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