Initial H: Saint Jerome

From the Getty Museum record

Within the first letter of this text, the prologue to the Gospel of Saint John, a scribe sits at his desk writing on a scroll with great concentration. The figure likely represents Saint Jerome, who prefaced John's Gospel with an introduction that was frequently copied in medieval Bibles and Gospel books. Portraits of authors shown in the act of writing their works were a common motif filling the first letter of decorated medieval texts.