Minneapolis Institute of Art

Corpus Christi, page from an Illuminated Antiphonary

Choirbook Master

Date

1484

Medium

Gouache and gold leaf on parchment

Department

European Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

The initial I of Immolabit (He will be sacrificed) shows Christ and the apostles at the Last Supper, a reference to the sacrament of the Eucharist. Along the lower edge, Abraham and the twelve tribes of Israel prefigure this scene. Among the tendril motifs in the border are figures of Adam and Eve and possibly Abel leaning on his staff (at right), a putto (top center), and a pilgrim looking up at a peacock, a symbol of immortality (on the left). Above the peacock, a monster with a turbaned human head represents non-Christians, probably Muslims or Jews. The coat of arms in the lower margin is that of Cardinal Pedro de Mendoza, who commissioned this and many other precious manuscripts around 1484, after he became archbishop of Toledo. Spain, Europe

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