Illuminated Initial B from Montecassino Poster

Unknown illuminator; Sigenulfus, scribe Italian, Montecassino, 1153 Tempera colours, gold leaf, gold paint, and ink on parchment bound between pasteboard covered with marbled calf Leaf: 7 9/16 x 5 3/16 in. MS. LUDWIG IX 1 From the early Middle Ages on, clergy, monks, and nuns celebrated the Divine Office of prayers, hymns, psalms, and readings at eight different times throughout the day, using the texts in a breviary. This breviary was made at the monastery of Montecassino in southern Italy, the cradle of Benedictine monasticism and an important centre for book production in the Middle Ages. The book’s small size suggests that it was designed for a monk’s private use rather than for community use. A prayer in the manuscript mentions the scribe Sigenulfus, who wrote the text of this book and may also have painted its many decorated initials. The manuscript’s bright colours, especially the blue and yellow, and the familiar motif of biting dogs twisting amidst spiralling tendrils are characteristic of works produced at the scriptorium at Montecassino.