Decorated Incipit Page

From the Getty Museum record

Opposite the miniature of the Pentecost from this Ottonian sacramentary, the incipit page features the beginning of the Preface of the Mass. Within a gold frame golden words appear on a purple and green background: *P[er] om[n]ia s[ae]c[u]la s[ae]c[u]loru[m]. Amen. D[omi]n[u]s vobiscu[m]. Et cu[m] sp[irit]u tuo. Sursu[m] corda. Habem[us] ad d[omi]n[u]m. Gra[tia]s agam[us] d[omi]no d[e]o n[ost]ro. Dignu[m] et iustum est* (For ever and ever. Amen. The Lord be with you. And with your spirit. Lift up your hearts. We hold them up to the Lord. We give thanks to the Lord our God. It is worthy and right). The use of gold letters on a purple ground deliberately imitates the appearance of the most sumptuous manuscripts of the Roman Imperial period, when texts were written in precious metals on purple-dyed parchment. To bring out the relationship with the facing page, the illuminator harmonized the frames by using the same colors of blue and pink. However, he also provided variation in the design of the frames on the two pages by changing the shapes of the leaves, creating a balance between harmony and visual diversity.