Page from an Antiphonal with Adoration of the Magi

Page from an Antiphonal with Adoration of the Magi

This impressive leaf from an Antiphonal contains the incipit for Epiphany, “Hodie in Jordane baptizato domino aperti sunt caeli.” This Antiphon is introduced with a large historiated initial showing the Adoration of the Magi. While it displays the same iconography as the previous item, this choir book leaf relates to the singing of the Office by the assembled choir, as opposed to a Missal, which is intended for the recitation of the Mass by the priest. The style of the miniature recalls that of the Master of the Vitae Imperatorum and of the Olivetan Master, whose output is closely linked. The work of both artists is representative of Lombard illumination in the early fifteenth century. The completion of this leaf was a collaborative undertaking: in the left margin, an instructional note for the illuminator, in Italian, reads: “l’adoratia di magi.”

Illuminator: Master of the Vitae Imperatorum or Olivetan Master

ca. 1450

Illuminated manuscript leaf on parchment

Private Collection, Philadelphia

Lombardy, Italy