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Bible: Carolingian Initials | MS 277

BIBLE: CAROLINGIAN INITIALS

MS 1277
MS Short Title BIBLE: CAROLINGIAN INITIALS
Text
  1. BIBLE: JUDGES 21:11 - 19
  2. BIBLE: RUTH 1:1 - 6
Description MS in Latin on vellum, Roma or Umbria-Roman region, Italy, ca. 1125-1130, 1 partial f., 24x22 cm, originally ca. 55x40 cm, 1 of 2 columns, (column width 11 cm), 26 lines (originally ca. 50 lines) in a late rounded Italian Carolingian minuscule of very high quality, 4 lines of the text and all initials in an expert uncial, 23-line hollow shafted transitional geometrical initial "I", 20x4 cm, of an interlaced design in a strong bright blue, the shaft filled with four-petalled rosettes in red and blue, knotwork at top and ending in a feather-like ornament in black red and green, expertly done by an unidentified master.
Provenance 1. Rodrigues Collection; 2. Paul Graupe Antiquariat, Berlin, Auction 76, 12.12.1927:26; 3. Georg Swarzenski (1927-1974); 4. H.P. Kraus, New York (1974-1975); 5. Professor H. Bober (1975-); 6. J. Bober (-1989); 7. Bruce Ferrini collection, Akron, Ohio (1989-1991).
Commentary The outer lower quarter of a leaf from an Atlante (Giant) Bible. "The beauty of this initial lies in its simplicity, and clarity of detail, features that are all the more enhanced by its remarkable state of preservation", Usha M. Subrahmanyam: Twelfth century initial styles in Central Italy. Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, February 1983.
Place of origin Italy
Dates ca 1125 - 1130 AD