Art of the Day: Leaf from Breviary: Psalm 1, Initial B with David Playing the Harp This small brevia
Art of the Day: Leaf from Breviary: Psalm 1, Initial B with David Playing the Harp This small breviary, which contained the texts for each day’s church service, is extraordinary for its length. Composed of more than 500 folios, it is only half of what was originally a two-volume breviary. The manuscript was completed for the Cathedral of Notre-Dame and St.-Lambert in Liège ca. 1420. This attribution is suggested, for instance, by the petitions to the congregation of this cathedral (fols. 114v-117v), as well as the armorial shield of the family of Surlet de Chokier of Liège represented in the initial “B” of Psalm 1. The manuscript has modest, but interesting, decoration with ornate initials marking the liturgical texts, and occasional angels playing instruments in the margins. The most notable pictorial effect is found in the initials inhabited by transparent figures on rich blue ground. The technique is found, for instance, on fol. 156r with the gold monstrance held by translucent angels for the feast of the Corpus Christi. Learn more about this object in our art site: http://bit.ly/2VNIAHX -- source link