The Golden Script

The Golden Script

In the strictest sense, a historiated initial depicts an identifiable figure or specific scene, while in an inhabited initial, the people or animals depicted lack a specific subject and are sometimes purely decorative. Historiated initials first emerged in the early 8th century and are an invention of Insular illuminators. The miniature scenes contained in these initials often, but not always, have a connection to the text and were created with the same quality of material and artistry as full-page miniatures, even employing silver and gold at times. Aside from their illustrative purposes, these elaborate initials serve as sign posts in the text and indicate the beginning of a new section. Due to the high cost of parchment, they could not always begin on a new page. In this way, historiated initials also served a functional purpose in addition to their aesthetic value. That being said, some luxury manuscripts will devote an entire page to a historiated initial, giving the artists full range to explore the creative potential of these decorative elements.

The ten folios in this selection represent a fine survey of the art of the historiated initial throughout the Middle Ages, and are presented here along with other decorative pages.

1. Ornamental Page, Gospel of John
   Book of Lindisfarne, Lindisfarne before 698
   London, British Library

2. Initial Page, Gospel of Matthew
   Ebo Evangeliary, Reims 816/835
   Epernay, Bibliothèque Municipale

3. Canon Table
   Gospels of Lothair, Tours ca. 849/851
   Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale

4. “B” Initial from Psalm 1
   Harley Psalter, Winchester ca. 980
   London, British Library

5. “Q” Initial
   Bohun Psalter, England ca. 1370
   Oxford, Exeter College

6. King and Queen Playing Chess
   Timeline of Christianity, Utrecht ca. 1410
   New York, Piermont Morgan Library

7. Haggadah Ornamental Page
   Darmstadt Pesach Haggadah, Upper Rhine ca. 1430
   Darmstadt, Hessische Landes- und Hochschulbibliothek

8. Adoration of the Magi
   Stephan Lochner Prayer Book, Cologne 1451
   Darmstadt, Hessische Landes- und Hochschulbibliothek

9. “D” Initial with Presentation of Jesus at the Temple
   Hours of Mary of Burgundy, Ghent 1470/80
   Vienna, Österreichische National-Bibliothek

10. “D” Initial
    Sforza Hours, Milan ca. 1490
    London, British Library