Artwork preview

Leaf from a Latin Bible: Initial P: St. Paul with a Sword and a Book

William de Brailes

Cleveland Museum of Art

The image shows a yellowed, aged piece of parchment with handwritten text in brown ink. The parchment is a leaf from a Latin Bible, and it features a large decorative initial letter "P". The initial letter is blue and gold, with intricate designs and patterns. Inside the letter are two circular images. The top image depicts a man with a sword and a book. The man has a halo around his head, indicating he is a saint. He wears a blue robe and holds a sword in his right hand and a book in his left hand. The bottom image shows three people standing together. The people appear to be dressed in robes and seem to be engaged in a conversation. At the bottom of the initial letter, there is a small illustration of a man. The man is barefoot and wears a blue robe. He appears to be stretching or dancing, with his arms raised above his head. The background of the parchment is off-white, with some darker spots and stains visible. The text on the parchment is written in Latin and appears to be in a medieval script. The overall design and illustrations on the parchment suggest that it is a medieval manuscript, likely created in the 13th century.

Artwork Details

Dimensions
649 × 893 px
Museum Record
View original
Palette

You May Also Like

Fol. 455v, Thessalonians II, historiated initial P, Paul seated with a sword, talking to the bust of God above
Bifolium from a Bible: Initial E[t factum est] with Ezekiel
Fol. 435v, Romans, historiated initial P, Paul seated with a sword talking to the bust of God above
Fol. 292v, Jeremiah, historiated initial V, the stoning of Jeremiah
Fol. 481v, Jude, historiated initial I, Jude standing with a scroll
Single Leaf from a Bible: Initial E[t factum est] with Jonah Swallowed by the Whale
Leaf from a Latin Bible: Initial A and Initial A: Judith Beheading Holofernes
Fol. 440v, Corinthians I, historiated initial P, Paul kneeling talking to the bust of God above
Fol. 136r, Kings IV, historiated initial P, Ahaziah falling from a tower
Fol. 98r, Kings I, historiated initial F, Elkanah and Hannah kneeling before an altar with God appearing above
Fol. 477v, Peter, historiated initial P, Peter with a key, talking to the bust of God above
Fol. 20v, Exodus, historiated initial H, Moses and two followers with the tablets of the law
Fol. 450v, Ephesians, historiated initial P, Paul seated with a sword, the bust of God above
Fol. 476v, James, historiated initial I, James standing with a scroll
Fol. 112r, Kings II, historiated initial F, the beheading of the Amalekite
Fol. 199r, Esther, historiated initial, two seated male figures
Fol. 459r, Philemon, historiated initial P, Paul addressing three men and Hebrews, historiated initial M, Paul seated at a desk, writing
Fol. 457v, Timothy II, historiated initial P, Paul talking to the bust of God above
Fol. ir: Prologue, St. Jerome, large historiated initial I, the saint in a brown habit writing at a desk in a gothic architectural frame, with full-length border of foliage and small hybrids, a hare, a dog and a grotesque perched on the foliage extensions
Fol. 454v,Thessalonians I, historiated initial P, Paul seated with a sword and a book, talking to the bust of God above
Fol. 36r, Leviticus, historiated initial V, Moses offering a sacrificial lamb on an altar
Fol. 391v, Matthew, full-length historiated initial L, the Tree of Jesse, with a sleeping Jesse at the base and six of the ancestors of Christ in irregular compartments
Fol. 46v, Numbers, historiated initial L, Moses with horns, kneeling before God
The Gotha Missal: Fol. 90r, Text