id: 130195
accession number: 1952.565
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1952.565
updated: 2020-11-04 20:35:48.205000
Partial Leaf from a Latin Bible: Initial I[n principio] with the Marriage at Cana, c. 1260-1270. Northeastern France, Cambrai, 13th century. Ink, tempera, and gold on vellum; sheet: 42 x 15.3 cm (16 9/16 x 6 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1952.565
title: Partial Leaf from a Latin Bible: Initial I[n principio] with the Marriage at Cana
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: c. 1260-1270
creation date earliest: 1260
creation date latest: 1270
current location:
creditline: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
copyright:
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culture: Northeastern France, Cambrai, 13th 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: 42 x 15.3 cm (16 9/16 x 6 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
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: 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: Devotion and Leaning in the Middle Ages- (Manuscript Rotation) - Gallery 115
opening date: 2017-12-04T05:00:00
Devotion and Leaning in the Middle Ages- (Manuscript Rotation) - Gallery 115. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* The Cleveland Museum of Art (10/10/2004 - 10/02/2005); "Illuminated Manuscripts"
Cleveland Museum of Art, (11/06/2010 - 04/17/2011); "The Glory Of the Painted Page: Manuscript Illuminations from the Permanent Collections"
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PROVENANCE
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fun fact:
digital description:
wall description:
The illuminator of this initial placed three small scenes one above another to suggest the vertical stem of the initial I, here standing for the introductory passages of the Gospel of Saint John, In principio erat verbum . . . (In the beginning was the word . . .). Such initials have been called "ladder initials" because the individual scenes were arranged one on top of the other to be read in sequence. Each group of figures stands beneath a cusped gable and depicts scenes from the Marriage at Cana. At the top, Christ and the Virgin speak together; at the center, Christ tells the attendant to fill the jars; and below, the banquet proceeds after the miraculous change of water into wine. The present leaf (actually a fragment) comes from a large lectern bible, which probably existed in several volumes because of its size. In the 1100s and 1200s, the large multivolume bible was a standard form used for refectory readings at meals or else kept in a library for reference.
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1952.565/1952.565_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1952.565/1952.565_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1952.565/1952.565_full.tif