Getty Museum

Cutting from a choir book

Date

third quarter of 15th century

Medium

Tempera colors, gold, and ink

Culture

Italian

Department

Manuscripts

Institution

Getty Museum

The large initial *S* at the top-left of this leaf features a depiction of the suffering of Job. According to the Christian Old Testament, Job was a prosperous man whose faith in God was tested through punishments inflicted by Satan. According to the Christian Bible, among other afflictions, Satan struck Job with ulcers "from the sole of the foot even to the top of his head." (Book of Job 2:7). The Florentine illuminator Francesco di Antonio del Chierico took the opportunity to portray Job completely naked with the ulcers visible all over his body, heightening the sense of his suffering. The figure adopts the typical pose of melancholy, with head in hand. The current configuration of this sheet is not original. The initial with Job and the floral border at the top, bottom, and along the left side were originally part of a choir book, likely accompanying penitential hymns that were sung during Lent (the forty-day period of fasting and reflection before Easter). At some unknown date, the narrative initial and border were cut away in sections and attached to a new choir leaf, which features text and musical notation. The text of the hymn does not relate to the sorrows of Job, suggesting that whoever created this collage wanted to include the various decorated elements simply for their aesthetic appeal.

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