6. Showcasing Salvation; Innovating for the Liturgy
8 items in collection

In the earlier Middle Ages, the parts required for each service had been contained within a variety of books. But the increasing mobility of the clergy and the endowment of numerous private masses for the dead led to the development of the Breviary and the Missal, which contained all the texts needed to celebrate the Office and the Mass, respectively. Because of their visibility upon the altar throughout the Mass, Missals in particular are often beautifully decorated and include lavish historiated initials. The prolonged opening of the Missal during the recitation of the Canon of the Mass, prior to the consecration of the Eucharist, led to a concentration of imagery in the center of the book, often with a full-page miniature of the Crucifixion intended to be kissed by the officiating priest. Facing this image would be a large initial T marking the beginning of the “Te igitur . . .” prayer. Such an initial, newly identified as being cut from a set of lavish Missals produced for the Sistine Chapel around 1520, is included here. Though Missals and Breviaries were intended to be read by single users, the provision of a range of communal choir books was seen as essential for any cathedral, abbey, or substantial church. Both types of book were exceptionally large as they needed to be legible to several choristers gathered around a lectern.