Leaf from a Gradual: Historiated Initial R: The Resurrection (recto) and Initial D (verso)

This leaf was taken from a gradual, a large volume
containing songs for the mass. This single leaf
shows the introductory passage for Easter Sunday. The initial R is filled with the representation of
the resurrection of Christ. The depiction of Saint Francis of Assisi in the floral decoration points
to an origin from a Franciscan monastery. Due to the great plague, the mendicant orders to which
the Franciscans belonged were the recipients of
civil charitable donations. Naples, where the leaf
is said to have been made, was struck by a severe earthquake around the middle of the 1300s, in
addition to the plague.

Credit: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund