Item Info
Folio Number: front
Source: Rare Book Department
Notes: Initial G with Bernardo Tolomei and a group of Olivetan monks
Notes: Since no text is visible on this cutting (it has been pasted to decorative board), it is difficult to determine its original manuscript context. Its size suggests that it is from a large choir book. The cutting may have come from the same manuscript as Lewis E M 27:18. The iconography of this initial suggests that the original manuscript was intended for use in an Olivetan monastery. The Olivetan order was founded by the Blessed Bernardo Tolomei, shown in this initial holding an olive branch. The order took its name from its motherhouse, which was named Monte Oliveto after the biblical Mount of Olives.
The illuminator of this initial is known as the Olivetan Master, called by this name because of a signature found in an illuminated initial from Milan, dated 1439 (now in The Cini Foundation in Venice) that describes him as a brother of the Order of Monteoliveto.
Notes:
This cutting has been dated to ca. 1430s - 1440s.
Sirsi Catalog Key:
1595939
Country:
Country:Italy
City/Town/Township:Milan
Creation Year (Single Year or Range Begin):
1499
Image Dimensions Width:
98 mm
ShelfMark:
Lewis E M 27:17
Creator Name:
Olivetan Master - Artist
front