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Source Description
This tiny manuscript written for a lady served as a pretty pendant as well as a prayer book. The gold cover is enameled and set with rubies. During the Renaissance, miniature books were valued as works of virtuosity as well as devotional aids. The chain allowed it to be hung as a pendant, possibly from a girdle or a rosary. The text inside--the seven penitential psalms associated with King David’s penance for his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba--is perfectly legible. The manuscript also contains two tiny and beautifully painted illuminations, one of the Virgin Mary and the other of Christ. The scribe who copied the text signed his work as Jacobus Romanus.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
6483
label
Miniature Manuscript Used as a Pendant
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
8
Source metadata
id
6483
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Miniature Manuscript Used as a Pendant
description
This tiny manuscript written for a lady served as a pretty pendant as well as a prayer book. The gold cover is enameled and set with rubies. During the Renaissance, miniature books were valued as works of virtuosity as well as devotional aids. The chain allowed it to be hung as a pendant, possibly from a girdle or a rosary. The text inside--the seven penitential psalms associated with King David’s penance for his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba--is perfectly legible. The manuscript also contains two tiny and beautifully painted illuminations, one of the Virgin Mary and the other of Christ. The scribe who copied the text signed his work as Jacobus Romanus.
provenance
Henry Walters, Baltimore, after 1895 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
ca. 1550 (High Renaissance)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
illuminated manuscripts
pendants
imageCount
8
pageCount
8
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
2.2
height
1.7
dimensionsRaw
Folio: H: 7/8 × W: 11/16 in. (2.2 × 1.7 cm)Binding: H: 1 × W: 15/16 × D: 5/16 in. (2.5 × 2.4 × 0.8 cm)Binding with chain: H: 2 5/8 × W: 1 × D: 9/16 in. (6.6 × 2.5 × 1.5 cm)
Source extras
med
ink and paint on parchment, bound between gold, enamel, and rubies (or spinels)
creator_ids
3860
5592
collection_ids
MSS
REN
exhibition_ids
2128
2289
2513
118
1994
213
385
3093
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
1ced522a874af27c
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
2d35c19a5aacfd4e
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
3
type
photo
mediaId
b1e0f4a0e7c5b494
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
4
type
photo
mediaId
245ae4df4a03c731
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
5
type
photo
mediaId
75e04cbddeb63675
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
6
type
photo
mediaId
4dcce1e829cdffd6
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
7
type
photo
mediaId
de9b8bfc9d84f587
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
8
type
photo
mediaId
3fa4600d9a7e8e09
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no