Getty Museum

Decorated Incipit Page

Date

about 1030–1040

Medium

Tempera colors, gold leaf, and ink

Culture

Ottonian

Department

Manuscripts

Institution

Getty Museum

In this Ottonian benedictional, a rubric in red and gold at the top of the incipit page for the feast of Pentecost identifies the contents of this section of the book: *Benedictio in pentecosten* (The blessing for Pentecost). Below, red and gold strands of vine, tangling and swirling in knotted interlace against a ground of blue and green, form the letter *D* . This decorated initial *D* introduces the blessing itself: *D[eu]s qui hodierna die* (God who on this day), while the others letters follow in gold. Although the Pentecost miniature on the facing page has quite a different frame, the rich colors of the two folios present a harmonious whole. Where the gold ground of the Pentecost miniature is enclosed in a simple red frame, these glowing letters are enclosed within two bands of gold and one of acanthus leaves. The treatment of the leaves closely resembles the forms used in antique architectural ornament.

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