id: 130195 accession number: 1952.565 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1952.565 updated: 2023-03-09 12:47:48.906000 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: --- 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: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Sheet: 42 x 15.3 cm (16 9/16 x 6 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Transformations of the Court Style: Gothic Art in Europe, 1270 - 1330 opening date: 1977-02-02T05:00:00 Transformations of the Court Style: Gothic Art in Europe, 1270 - 1330. Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI (February 2-27, 1977). 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). --- 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" --- PROVENANCE --- 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. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- 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