Last week we went back in time to read about a researcher’s experience with 10a 189, de Argenta’s De fructibus. Mentioned briefly were the illuminations on folio 1r; this week we’ll look at the decorated initial in more detail, and later this month, talk about the inks used in the coat of arms.
Medieval manuscripts use initials to separate sections of text. These initials come in a variety of forms, with varying significance, and with varying elaboration (which depends on how ‘fancy’ a manuscript is). Initials can be as simple as rubricated (red) majuscule (capital) letters or as complex as historiated initials (letter which contain pictures). In January, we saw a lovely pen-flourished initial (Latin littera florissae) from Constantinus Africanus’ Viaticum.
The letter above from De fructibus is a great example of a dentelle initial. Dentelles are initials colored with gold-leaf which are on colored backgrounds (a common background color is blue). This dentelle is pretty striking, with green in the center of the “P” and what looks to be purple (the dark red ink has oxidized) surrounding it. Perhaps the scribe chose those colors to complement the colors in the Duke of Ferrara’s emblem on the same page.
Sources:
Brown, Michelle P. “Initial.” Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts: A Guide to Technical Terms. J. Paul Getty Museum: Malibu and British Library: London, 1994. Courtesy of Michelle Brown and the British Library: https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/GlossI.asp.
Clemens, Raymond, and Graham, Timothy. Introduction to Manuscript Studies. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 2007.