The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Leaf from the Wettinger Gradual: Historiated Initial (I) with Scenes from the Life of St. Augustine

Leaf from the Wettinger Gradual: Historiated Initial (I) with Scenes from the Life of St. Augustine

c. 1330
Sheet: 57.9 x 38.3 cm (22 13/16 x 15 1/16 in.); Framed: 61.6 x 76.8 cm (24 1/4 x 30 1/4 in.); Matted: 71.1 x 55.9 cm (28 x 22 in.)
Location: not on view

Description

This imposing leaf comes from the monumental Wettinger Gradual preserved in the Canton Library in Aarau, Switzerland. The focus of the decoration consists of a single massive initial I. It is constructed with four separate compartments featuring scenes from the life of Saint Augustine. The compartments read (from top to bottom): Augustine teaching before his conversion; the dream of Augustine’s mother; Augustine’s baptism; and Augustine teaching monks. The monk in the lower margin holds a scroll that reads in Latin: “Pray for us, blessed Father Augustine.” The initial would have introduced the feast of Saint Augustine (August 28) in the Sanctorale: In medio Ecclesiae aperuit os eius (“And in the midst of the church she shall open his mouth”). Given the prominence of this initial within the gradual, and the depiction of an Augustinian canon in the lower marginal extender, the manuscript was likely produced for a community of Augustinians.

Influenced by Parisian manuscript painting, the illuminators added tendril extenders supporting birds, animals, and, below, an Augustinian monk in prayer. Though nothing is known of their lives or careers, both artists have working styles related to Colognese manuscript and panel painting. It is probable that this leaf, and the parent codex from which it comes, would have originally belonged to an Augustinian religious foundation in Cologne.
  • Joseph Brummer; Vladimir G. Simkhovitch
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 53 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 52 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 61 archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 232-233, no. 85
    Bernasconi, Marina, Christoph Flüeler, and Brigitte Roux. Trésors enluminés de Suisse: manuscrits sacrés et profanes. 2020, 115. Mentioned: p. 115.
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    Visions of the Divine: Textiles and Manuscripts from Medieval Germany (Manuscript and Textile Rotation) - Gallery 115. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 14, 2016-December 4, 2017).
    The Glory of the Painted Page: Manuscript Illuminations from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 6, 2010-April 17, 2011).
    Cleveland Museum of Art, (11/06/2010 - 04/17/2011); "The Glory Of the Painted Page: Manuscript Illuminations from the Permanent Collections"
    Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. National Museum of Bavaria, Munich, Germany (May 10-September 16, 2007); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 13-June 7, 2009).
    Bavarian Nationalmuseum, Munich (5/10/2007 - 9/16/2007), the J. Paul Getty Musuem, Los Angeles (10/30/2007 - 1/20/2008) and Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, TN (2/13/2009 - 6/7/2009): "Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art"
    The Decorated Letter and the Illuminator's Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 25-December 19, 1993).
    Cleveland Museum of Art, "The Decorated Letter and the Illuminator's Art" September 25-December 19, 1993.
    Transformations of the Court Style: Gothic Art in Europe, 1270 - 1330. Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI (February 2-27, 1977).
    Providence, Rhode Island School of Design (organized by Brown University), "Transformations in Gothic Style ca. 1300" February 2-February 27, 1977
    Berkely, University Art Gallery: "Illuminated Manuscript Pages" April 26-June 8, 1963, cat. no. 13, repr, pl. XIII.
    Pages From Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts. Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA (April 24-June 8, 1963).
    Columbus, Ohio State University: "Aspects of Medieval Art" (Medieval Conference) October 31-November 22, 1958, no. 7.
    Cleveland, Severance Hall, "Manuscripts" December, 1957.
    Buffalo, The Albright Art Gallery: "Art in the Book" 12/5/1953-1/03/1954, no. 30.
    The Toledo Museum of Art: "Medieval and Renaissance Music Manuscripts" January-February, 1953, no. 41.
  • {{cite web|title=Leaf from the Wettinger Gradual: Historiated Initial (I) with Scenes from the Life of St. Augustine|url=false|author=Second Master of the Wettinger Gradual|year=c. 1330|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1949.203