Antiphonal

From the Getty Museum record

This large-scale, splendidly illuminated choir book was designed to be seen from a lectern by a group of singers during the Divine Office, the eight prayer services sung daily by monks, nuns, and clerics of the Catholic Church. The manuscript was likely produced for a community of the Dominican Order based at a church in either Bologna or Florence. It is the first volume of a type of choir book called an antiphonal that probably consisted of seven separately bound books. The illumination of the manuscript primarily takes the form of historiated initials (enlarged letters decorated with a narrative illustration) marking the major Christian festivals of the church year. The illuminator of this manuscript, known as the Master of Gerona, worked in Italy in the late 1200s, training in Bologna. Familiar with Byzantine icon painting as well as recent trends in Italian panel painting, the artist succeeded in conveying an impressive sense of weight, volume, and depth to the figures. For example, while the face of Christ in the initial *A* of folio 2 clearly recalls a Byzantine icon, the evocation of space in the placement of Christ, throne, and the angels points to the influence of the Italian painter, Cimabue (about 1240-1302).