id:			160824
accession number:	1999.132.a
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1999.132.a
updated:		

Leaf from a Gradual: Historiated Initial S[alve Sancta Parens] with Birth of the Virgin (recto), c. 1420–1450. Northern Italy, 15th century. Ink, tempera, and gold on vellum; each leaf: 52.1 x 34.9 cm (20 1/2 x 13 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection 1999.132.a

title:				Leaf from a Gradual: Historiated Initial S[alve Sancta Parens] with Birth of the Virgin (recto)
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 1420–1450
creation date earliest:		1415
creation date latest:		1455
current location:		
creditline:			The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection
copyright:			

---

culture:	Northern Italy, 15th century
technique:	ink, tempera, and gold on vellum
department:	Medieval Art
collection:	MED - Manuscript Illuminations
type:		Manuscript
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

---

CREATORS

---

measurements: Each leaf: 52.1 x 34.9 cm (20 1/2 x 13 3/4 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

---

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

---

LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

---

PROVENANCE

	[Bruce Ferrini, Akron].
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


---

fun fact:


digital description:


wall description:
This beautiful leaf is dominated by a large historiated S from which sprays of foliage inhabited by a putto, a rabbit, and a stork extend into the left margin. A scene representing the birth of the Virgin is within the double curve of the S. Saint Anne, the Virgin’s mother, occupies the birthing bed in the upper scene. Below, the infant Mary has been bathed and wrapped in swaddling clothes. In manuscript missals and their musical counterparts, the gradual, votive Masses are generally assigned one to each day of the week with Saturday reserved for the Blessed Virgin. The votive Mass to the Virgin varied from season to season. Three Masses were, therefore, supplied—one for advent, one to be used from Christmas to purification, and a third, represented by this leaf, to be used from purification to advent. This text reads: Salve sancta parens (“Hail Holy Parent”) introducing the opening of the Introit for the Saturday votive Mass for the Nativity of the Virgin (September 8) in the liturgical calendar. The identity of the artist remains elusive, as does his precise place of origin. The figure style and ornament suggest a source in North Italy, perhaps in an artistic center such as Pavia, Mantua, or Padua.
---

RELATED WORKS

---

CITATIONS

	Fliegel, Stephen N. <em>The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection of Manuscript Illuminations</em>. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999.
	page number: 	Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 78, cat. no. 76
	url:		https://archive.org/details/BlackburnIlluminations/page/n90

---

IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1999.132.a/1999.132.a_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1999.132.a/1999.132.a_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1999.132.a/1999.132.a_full.tif