Cleveland Museum of Art
Leaf from a Gradual: Initial (D) with John the Baptist
Francesco d'Antonio del ChericoLinkedCulture matchlcp-3f365da61fd1
- Date
- Late 1450s
- Medium
- Ink, tempera, and gold on vellum
- Culture
- Italy, Florence
- Department
- Medieval Art
- Institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Object ID
- 127356
From the Cleveland Museum of Art record
This leaf comes from a gradual, a choral book containing the mass chants. It features a large decorated letter D introducing the Mass: Deus, in nomine tuo salvum me fac (Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me in thy strength) from Psalm 53. Francesco d’Antonio del Cherico began his career as a goldsmith in Florence. He eventually changed his occupation to manuscript illuminator where he achieved much success. He was a pupil of Fra Angelico and became famous for being Lorenzo de’ Medici’s favorite illuminator. He gained a reputation for his well-executed illustrations in varying types of books ranging from small books of hours to large choir books. His illustrations often featured intricate floral arrangements, as seen here. It was common practice in the Renaissance for illuminators to buy their pigments from apothecaries.
The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.
Get printable QR codesHide QR codes
Open QR codes for this object page and the museum record. They stay collapsed until needed.
Provenance & credit
As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.
- Credit line
- Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Provenance
- -1950: Vladimir G. Simkhovitch, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art | 1950-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Oh
Related across collections
Semantically similar works from Cleveland Museum of Art and other institutions.
Initial A: Saint John the Baptist and the Messiah, cutting from a gradual
Getty Museum
#716ce1d2-58fa-4f55-bc83-382e95fc3455
Leaf from the Wettinger Gradual: Historiated Initial (I) with Scenes from the Life of St. Augustine
Cleveland Museum of Art
#126809
Cutting from a gradual
Getty Museum
#190a0038-31f6-4b29-b37d-49a9923925a9
Leaf from a Gradual: Decorated Initial (verso)
Cleveland Museum of Art
#109282
Leaf from a Gradual: Decorated Initial (verso)
Cleveland Museum of Art
#109284
Initial P: Saint John the Baptist, cutting from a gradual
Getty Museum
#614388b0-3b06-4155-ba48-c2ffef01632d
The Trinity: Leaf from a Gradual with Initial B
Cleveland Museum of Art
#130046
Leaf from a Gradual: Initial (M) with St. Andrew (recto)
Cleveland Museum of Art
#109281
Saint Jerome Extracting a Thorn from a Lion's Paw
Getty Museum
#e31a54bb-27f0-4d64-a5a3-334ed3e8011b
Manuscript Leaf with Saint John the Evangelist and Saint John the Baptist in an Initial M, from an Antiphonary
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
#469056
Leaf from a Gradual: Initial (R) with Mass for the Dead (recto)
Cleveland Museum of Art
#109283
Initial D: The Naming of Saint John the Baptist
Getty Museum
#358246a2-63b4-424f-810c-a3e12dfe1595