The 93 Artworks of media Parchment and containing the word cosmè tura, parchment, 1450

Essentially a small painting on parchment, this miniature contains an unusually vivid and naturalistic portrait of the famous Sienese preacher Fra Bernardino degli Albizzeschi (1380–1444), canonized by Pope Nicholas V in 1450. He is dressed in the habit of the Franciscan Order, preaching from a wood...

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An archbishop of Lucca, whose family served as bankers to the pope, commissioned Niccolò da Bologna, a renowned illuminator, to create a set of choir books for the Carthusian monastery in nearby Farneta. In the nineteenth century, the monks had to sell the books, which eventually were cut up and div...

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The initial B introduces Psalm 1: B[eatus vir qui non abiit in consilio impiorum et in via peccatorum non] stetit et in c[athedra pestilentiae non sedit] ('Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers').King David k...

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The initial B marks the beginning of the introit to the Mass for Trinity Sunday: Benedicta sit sancta Trinitas ('Blessed be the Holy Trinity').In the upper half of the initial, the three persons of the Trinity are seated on a throne of red seraphim, and below them are ten angels dressed in white. In...

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This diminutive Book of Hours is one of Simon Bening’s prayerful jewels, intended for use at regular intervals throughout the twenty-four- hour day (ideally every three hours). It was a reminder of the omnipresence of God, meant to be attached to its owner, or stored with precious possessions. There...

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