Manuscript Cutting: Leaf from a Gradual with an Historiated Initial ‘A’ showing King David presenting his Soul to Christ
Attributed to Lippo Vanni (active about 1340-75), and workshop
Leaf from a Gradual with an Historiated Initial ‘A’ showing King David presenting his Soul to Christ
Possibly Siena, about 1350-75
Ink, gold, watercolour and bodycolour on parchment, 570 x 385 mm
Victoria and Albert Museum (No. 4149)
Here King David, writer of the Psalms from which this song comes, is in the initial ‘A’, raising his soul (shown as a baby) to Christ. It is an echo of the words to be sung: ‘Unto thee O Lord, I lift my soul’. Singing these words also stresses their importance. It is a way of vocalising the prayer to emphasise the words and their intention.
The text, from a Camaldolese Gradual, written here, ‘Ad te levavi animam meam’ (‘Unto thee O Lord, I lift my soul’) is the introit for the mass on the first Sunday of Advent. Several cuttings in this section of the exhibition contain the same song, reflecting its importance to Advent and its popularity across the centuries. Despite this, none look the same, as there is significant variation in fonts and in the size and focus of illuminated initials and marginalia.
In the lower border, a group of eight nuns of the Camaldolese order are shown in prayer. The Camaldolese are a strict Catholic monastic order founded in Tuscany (Italy) by Saint Romuald in around 1012, who combine aspects of hermetic and community life.