Manuscript Leaf with the Celebration of a Mass in an Initial S, from an Antiphonary

Master of the Riccardiana Lactantius

second half 15th century · Tempera, ink, and gold on parchment · Medieval Art

Obscuring much of the letter S, a priest celebrates Mass at a small altar with only one assistant-a scene quite distinct from the communal, music-filled ceremonies for which medieval and Renaissance choir books were created. The Museum owns several pages from the same antiphonary, a type of choir book that monks used at regular daily intervals, following the regimen codified by Saint Benedict in the sixth century. The anonymous master's name is derived from his illuminations of a text by Lactantius, an early Christian author, preserved in the Riccardiana Library in Florence.

Artist

Master of the Riccardiana Lactantius

Date

second half 15th century

Medium

Tempera, ink, and gold on parchment

Culture

Italian

Department

Medieval Art

Credit line

Gift of Louis L. Lorillard, 1896, transferred from the Library