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Initial R or B: Saint Michael and the Dragon, cutting from an antiphonal

Date: about 1446–1450
Medium: Tempera colors and gold
Culture: Italian (Siena)
Department: Manuscripts
Institution: Getty Museum
Object ID: 7fa1d4c1-5250-4fe7-9722-8f7f37400090

From the Getty Museum record

Colorful, spiky acanthus leaves dotted with golden orbs form the body of a flamboyant initial *R* or *B* that once formed part of a Christian choir book. The scene within features the archangel Michael triumphantly standing on the neck of a dragon and wielding his sword (seemingly hidden by the letter) to cut off the beast’s head. In addition to the exuberant style of the initial, the figure’s darkly modeled and exaggerated physiognomy, magnificent golden armor and multicolored wings are characteristic of illuminations executed by Giovanni di Paolo, the leading painter of fifteenth-century Siena.

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