Getty Museum

Inhabited Initial H

Date

about 1170–1180

Medium

Tempera colors, gold leaf, and ink

Culture

French

Department

Manuscripts

Institution

Getty Museum

The illuminator painted an inhabited initial *H* to distinguish the opening of the *Decretal's* section on natural law and legislative law, which begins with *Humanum genus duobus regitur* (The human race is governed by two [laws]). Within a gold frame, the armature of the letter *H*, elaborated with abstract geometric patterns, terminates in leafy vine scrolls. Within the letter, a man with a club and a centaur with a bow and arrow seem to be caught in the vine scrolls. These fantastic characters are typical of Romanesque manuscript illumination, as is the definition of the figures' clothing in nested V-folds. Despite the illuminator's focus on surface animation and pattern, he paid careful attention to anatomy, logically rendering the figures' twisting movements. In the margin the glosses are written in a smaller script. These notations provide indices to similar passages in other books, refer the reader to controversial issues of canon law, and discuss problems in the texts.

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