Italy

3. HISTORIATED INITIAL 'P' Glossed Epistles of St Paul, Latin Tuscany, c.1190-1200 Parchment, 32.0 x 20.5 cm 151 leaves State Library of Victoria, *f096/B47E, fol. 85v			This initial comes from a late 12th century Tuscan copy of the Epistles of St Paul, complete with glosses or commentaries - this was a particularly popular text and many examples survive. Decorated initials 'P' customarily introduced each of the Epistles in these manuscripts, with one initial being reserved for the author portrait. The curling white vine-stems, patterned interlace and occasional animal motifs of the decorated initials are characteristic of Italian Romanesque illumination.

38. VIRGIN & CHILD Book of Hours, Latin Northern Italy, second half of 15th century Parchment, 15.4 x 11.0 cm 141 leaves National Library of Australia, Clifford Collection, MS 1097/6, fol. 1r			The portrayal of the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child in her arms is one of the oldest images of Christian art. It appears constantly in books of hours in a wide range of contexts and with varying devotional emphases. The way in which the child lies across Mary's lap, and her hands joined in prayer over his body, relate it to depictions of Christ's infancy that foreshadow his Passion and death, and to the theme of the Pietà in which Mary laments her dead son.

32. THE ASCENSION Psalter? (fragment bound with three other fragments), Latin Lombardy, mid-15th century Parchment, 10.5 x 10.5 cm single leaf State Library of Victoria, *f096/II. 1, fol. 1r
		The Psalter formed the kernel of both monastic and private devotion. It was preceded by a Calendar essential for establishing the days for feasts and anniversaries of Saints. Often a series of miniatures depicting scenes from the Old and New testaments was inserted between the calendar and the Psalter proper. In this manuscript a miniature of Christ's ascension appears within the historiated initial 'C'. Christ disappears into the heavens with only his feet and lower drapery visible against the flower strewn sky. Below, before a green curving landscape and pink building are grouped the apostles. The upper portion of their bodies or simply their heads and halos, emerge from the containing frame of the initial. This naturalistic way of depicting the ascension of Christ is thought to have originated in English art at the beginning of the 12th century.

24. PIETÀ Apollonio de' Bonfratelli, Missal (fragment), Latin Rome, mid-16th century Parchment, 25.3 x 17.5 cm single leaf National Gallery of Australia, 76.1320AB			This single leaf with a painting of the Pietà on it probably comes from a missal, made for Pope Pius V, for use in the Sistine Chapel. It is the work of Apollonio de Bonfratelli who from 1554 until 1575 was the papal miniaturist at the Vatican. Manuscripts continued to be made for liturgical purposes in the Vatican long after they had been replaced by printed books elsewhere. This image of the Pietà, in which the sorrowing Mary mourns the body of her dead son layed out on her lap, is obviously indebted to the masters of the High Renaissance. Michelangelo, in particular, had made the theme popular in Rome.

39. ANNUNCIATION; & THE VIRGIN & CHILD Monte di Giovanni di Miniato, Book of Hours, Latin Florence, 1496 Parchment, 14.7 x 10.0 cm 241 leaves National Gallery of Victoria, MS Felton 869-5, fols 13-14r
		The Hours of the Virgin was a key devotion in the book of hours and since the Annunciation was often chosen to introduce its opening hour of matins, this theme received special attention. Here, according to a format popular in late 15th century Florence, the Hours of the Virgin is introduced by a double-page composition which shows the Annunciation on the left and an historiated initial of the Virgin and Child set within a panel of crimson-stained parchment on the right.The Virgin and Child opposite, and the individual saints in the border and in the historiated initials marking the later hours, serve to extend the contemplative focus so as to embrace the fulfilment of the angel's message and its continuing significance in the life of the Church.

30. CHRIST & MARTYR SAINTS

Neri da Rimini, Antiphonal, Latin
Rimini, 1328
Parchment, 52.5 x 36.5 cm 155 leaves

State Library of New South Wales, Rare Books and Special Collections, Richardson 273, fol. 34v

This manuscript is one of a set of choir books illuminated by the talented artist Neri da Rimini, for a religious house in Rimini. It contains the chants for various categories of saints - martyrs, confessors, virgins etc. - which are used when a feast does not have a special office of its own. The bond between Christ and those who suffer on his behalf is the subject of the historiated initial 'A' which marks the responsory for matins of the office of several martyrs.

29. MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS

Antiphonal (fragment), Latin
Northern Italy?, 13th/14th century
Parchment, 48.0 x 34.0 cm 7 leaves

State Library of Victoria, *ef.096/R 661, fol. 1v

The feast of the Holy Innocents occurs three days after Christmas. It honours as martyrs the children slaughtered by King Herod in his attempt to kill the new-born Christ, whom he saw as a potential threat to his reign in Palestine. In this Italian antiphonal, soldiers are seen above, receiving their orders from Herod, while below the slaughter takes place.

22. THE TRINITY: BOOK OF GENESIS

Bible, Latin
Italy, mid-13th century
Parchment, 28.0 x 20.8 cm 438 leaves
Bible Society in New Zealand. On loan to the Alexander
Turnbull Library,

National Library of New Zealand /Te Puna Mãtauranga o Aotearoa, MSR-16, fol. 3v

St Jerome's Latin translation of the books of the Old Testament came to be known as the Vulgate edition of the Bible. This historiated initial which introduces Genesis, the first book of the Bible, shows the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. The two identical figures of Christ express the idea that Christ is the mirror of God the Father. The dove was the traditional symbol of the Holy Spirit. Shown linking Father and Son, it expresses the relationship of love that characterises the inner life of the Trinity.

18. TITLE PAGE

Scriptores Historiae Augustae; Eutropius Breviarium ab Urbe Condita;
Paul the Deacon, Historia Romana, Latin
Florence, 1478/79
Parchment, 37.8 x 25.0 cm 216 leaves

State Library of Victoria, *f096.1/Au 4, fol. 1r

The opening folio of this splendid manuscript displays the arms and devices of the great Florentine patron of the arts, Lorenzo de' Medici. In its three-sided border, winged putti encircle a green trunk that represents Lorenzo's emblem of the pruned laurel branch with shoots. Scrolls bearing the words 'Le Tens Revient' (The Seasons Return) wrap around it. They signify the return of a golden age under the Medici, whose coat of arms appears in the border at the bottom of the page, both in the central wreath and on the shields held by putti on either side. Flowers strew the ground of the border panel, and on the upper left an angel stands behind a gleaming jewel cluster.

4. DECORATED INITIAL 'R'

Gradual, Latin Lombardy, second half of 13th century Parchment, 30.5 x 23.0 cm 200 leaves

State Library of New South Wales, Dixson Q 3/1, fol. 88v

The initial 'R' of the word 'Resurrexi' (I have risen) marks the introit chant for the Mass of Easter Sunday in this 13th century choir book or gradual. It is one of six large initials that introduce the Mass chants for the major feasts of the Church. The naturalistic interlace of curling acanthus leaf design reflects both the use of classical motifs in medieval Italian art and the three-dimensional character of Gothic ornament.