id: 132038 accession number: 1954.598 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1954.598 updated: 2023-03-20 14:14:11.186000 Single Leaf from a Decretum by Gratian: Decorated Initial Q[uidam habens filium obtulit] and Quadruple Arcade with Concordance of Greek and Latin Alphabets , c. 1160–1165. France, Burgundy, Archdiocese of Sens, Abbey of Pontigny, 12th century. Ink and tempera on vellum; sheet: 44.8 x 32 cm (17 5/8 x 12 5/8 in.); framed: 63.5 x 48.3 cm (25 x 19 in.); matted: 55.9 x 40.6 cm (22 x 16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1954.598 title: Single Leaf from a Decretum by Gratian: Decorated Initial Q[uidam habens filium obtulit] and Quadruple Arcade with Concordance of Greek and Latin Alphabets title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1160–1165 creation date earliest: 1160 creation date latest: 1165 current location: creditline: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund copyright: --- culture: France, Burgundy, Archdiocese of Sens, Abbey of Pontigny, 12th century technique: ink and tempera on vellum department: Medieval Art collection: MED - Manuscript Illuminations type: Manuscript find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Sheet: 44.8 x 32 cm (17 5/8 x 12 5/8 in.); Framed: 63.5 x 48.3 cm (25 x 19 in.); Matted: 55.9 x 40.6 cm (22 x 16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Treasures of Medieval France opening date: 1966-11-16T05:00:00 Treasures of Medieval France. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1966-January 29, 1967). title: Scriptorium: The Illuminated Book in Medieval Art opening date: 1991-11-05T05:00:00 Scriptorium: The Illuminated Book in Medieval Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 5, 1991-February 2, 1992). 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: 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 --- PROVENANCE Vladimir G. Simkhovitch, New York date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: This leaf was excised from a copy of the handbook of church law known as the Decretum written by Gratian, an Italian Camaldolese monk active in Bologna from about 1130 to 1140. The focus of the leaf is a large decorated letter Q with spiraling lotus petals introducing the first Causa, or case of law. The text begins, "A man having a son offered him to a very wealthy cloister." This case concerns the definition of simony (making profit from sacred things). The style of the illumination and the script date the leaf to between 1160 and 1165. In November 1164, Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, took refuge at Pontigny as a result of his conflict with King Henry II of England. During his stay, Becket immersed himself in the study of church law, as evidenced by his later use of citations from the Decretum. This leaf could have been part of the original manuscript Becket consulted. The volume was later dismembered following the suppression of the monastery during the French Revolution in the late 1700s. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS 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. 87 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958/page/n30 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. 47 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n71 Wixom, William D. Treasures from Medieval France. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1967. page number: Reproduced: cat. no. III 24, p. 92 - 93 url: 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. 47 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n69 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. 52 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n72 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. 170-171, no. 60 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1954.598/1954.598_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1954.598/1954.598_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1954.598/1954.598_full.tif