M3439 Illuminated Initial “I”, Master of the Toledo Cypresses, Leaf from a Spanish Gradual, Seville, c. 1430-50
A single leaf from a large Gradual, in Latin, on vellum. Written in a rounded Gothic hand in black ink with rubrics and five-line staves in red. Large initial “I” in highly burnished gold and brilliant colors of tempera and extending into the margin. Large initial “I” opens a text in celebration of Saint Anthony. The leaf is related to a series of magnificent choirbooks attributed to the Master of the Toledo Cypresses who illuminated twenty books that are preserved in the Cathedral of Seville. There are related leaves by the same artist in the Getty Museum and the National Gallery. Size: 595 x 420 mm.