Beschreibung:

RESURRECTION, historiated initial R, cutting from an ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT CHOIRBOOK ON VELLUM [northeastern Italy, c.1520] 211 x 205mm. Christ rising from the closed tomb surrounded by four sleeping soldiers against a rocky landscape, within an initial R with staves of dark blue patterned with gold foliage, flower and acanthus extensions in pink, blue, red and green, on a ground of liquid gold. The initial opens the Easter Mass: Resurrexi.. , 'I have risen', so that the image perfectly complements the text, as Christ triumphs over death to bring redemption to mankind. The rich decoration and expressive style of the initial link it to a small group of choirbook cuttings in the Wildenstein Collection: M. Levi d'Ancona, The Wildenstein Collection of Illuminations, the Lombard School , 1970, nos 25-27, and in Berlin, Staatliche Museen, Kupferstichkabinett, 1800. These have been attributed to Lombard artists, possibly working elsewhere in Italy. (Paint losses along crease into sky and to white of tomb and sky, worn areas in initial and ground, small holes in corners.)