Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 638: Cutting from a Missal
Abstract/Contents
- Summary
- This cutting from a German Missal, CCCC MS 638, was given to Corpus Christi College by Dr Robert Lefever in 2007. It is the Te igitur initial, the opening of the Canon of the Mass, and comes from a Missal made in the third quarter of the fifteenth century, probably in Swabia. The iconography is of female personifications of Ecclesia and Synagoga, with the brazen serpent, a typological symbol of the Crucifixion, wound around the initial T. The pelican piercing her breast, another type of the Crucifixion and special emblem of Corpus Christi College, is in the upper decorative border. The arms on this page are of the von Magenbuch family, and other cuttings from the same Missal with the same arms are in collections in Philadelphia and Tokyo.
- Contents
- Beginning of the Canon of the Mass
Description
| Type of resource | mixed material |
|---|---|
| Extent | f. 1 |
| Date created | [ca. 1450 - 1475] |
| Language | Latin |
| Material | Vellum |
| Layout | four lines of one text column extant, ruled in black ink |
| Height (mm) | 228 |
| Width (mm) | 152 |
| Writing | Gothic bookhand (textualis) |
| Foliation | f. 1 |
| Provenance | Germany, Von Magenbuch family, Swabia, fifteenth century; private collection in Austria; Sotheby's, London, 20 June 1995, lot 20; purchased by Quaritch, no 82 in their catalogue 1270 (2000), Dr Robert Lefever; presented by him to the College on 7 September 2007. |
| Research | The Te igitur initial once opened the Canon of the Mass in a Missal which was commissioned by the von Magenbuch family of Swabia. Their arms appear in the border and feature in two other cuttings from the same manuscript (Tokyo, Keio University Library, medieval manuscripts 108 and Philadelphia, Free Library, Lewis E M 1.24; see de Hamel 2008, 6, pls. 6-7). The Corpus leaf is plate 5 in the same article, de Hamel 2008, 4-6. |
| Decoration | Historiated inital [T, 8 ll.] formed of shaded blue acanthus on gold background, with partial floral, acanthus and spraywork border including gold rosettes, Pelican in her Piety and the arms of the von Magenbuch family: Ecclesia with cross, chalice and book, and Synagoga with broken standard and head of sacrificial animal flanking the initial with the brazen serpent (Num. 21:8-9) wound around it.Ornamentation: One-line blue penwork initial. |
Bibliographic information
| M.R. James Date | third quarter of the fifteenth century |
|---|---|
| Augmented James Record | |
| Contains |
|
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/rk497rj5204 |
| Location | MS 638 |
| Repository | UK, Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, Parker Library |
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- Images courtesy of The Parker Library, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. For higher resolution images suitable for scholarly or commercial publication, either in print or in an electronic format, please contact the Parker Library directly at parker-library@corpus.cam.ac.uk
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC).
Collection
Parker Manuscripts
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