Initial S: Pentecost

From the Getty Museum record

This large leaf originally from a Christian choir book shows Pentecost, the biblical episode in which the Holy Spirit (in the form of a dove) anoints Christ’s apostles so that they may speak all known languages and preach to the world. Saint Peter sits at center, holding the keys of his papal office, while the apostles to either side gesture and gaze at each other. The drama of the event is emphasized by the dove, representing the Holy Spirit, and the bright red rays of divine light that touch the apostles’ heads as small flames visible atop the radiant gold haloes. Rather than breaking up the scene with the curve of the initial S, as other artists of the time often did, the illuminator foregrounded the composition, with the concentrated row of halos standing in as the curve of the letter. The page is from a dispersed gradual, a choir book containing the sung portions of the Mass, and the initial opens the chant *Spiritus domini replevit orbem terrarium* (The spirit of the Lord filled the whole world) for Pentecost Sunday. The original volume was large so that it could be used by members of a choir and it may also have been visible to members of the congregation in the space of the church.