Leaf from a Homiliary in Latin, decorated manuscript on vellum [Italy, 11th century].

A decorated Homiliary
Leaf from a Homiliary in Latin, decorated manuscript on vellum [Italy, 11th century].
An early example of foliate and knot-work ornament.

c. 290 × 220mm. Preserving 2 columns of 33 lines, written in an upright Caroline minuscule, with frequent abbreviations and wedged ascenders, the text comprising part of St Fulgentius, De epiphania domini (‘in secessum emittitur [Matthew 15:17] […] aeterna felicitas’), and part of Gregory the Great, Homilia XXV (‘In natalis sanctorum Marcellini et Petri [2 June] […] In illo tempore. Cum audieritis prelia […] Homelia lectio eiusdem. Dominus ac redemptor noster perituri mundi […] veritas dicit. Diligite’), the homily decorated with a large ornamental initial ‘D’ in blue, orange, and yellow wash (recovered from use as a flyleaf, with consequent crease, staining, etc., inscribed with 17th(?)-century pentrial verses in Italian, and cropped at the top with the loss of 2 lines of text).

Provenance:
Colker MS 118; acquired in 1966 from Maggs.

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