Getty Museum

Decorated Initial V

Date

late 15th or early 16th century

Medium

Tempera colors, gold leaf, and ink

Culture

Italian

Department

Manuscripts

Institution

Getty Museum

A decorated initial *V* opens the introit for Ascension day, *Viri galilei quid admiramini aspitie[n]tes* (Men of Galilee, why are you astonished gazing up?). Set apart from the rest of the text by its large size, color, and *all'antica* handling, the initial is particularly elegant. A variety of forms from antiquity-vine leaves, wreaths, decorative arabesques, and gems-sprout from the letter's armature. A scribe wrote the music in square notation, a system developed in the Middle Ages and still used today.

The authoritative record is held by Getty Museum. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.