Manuscript Leaf with Initial M, from a Missal

Manuscript Leaf with Initial M, from a Missal

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

With its marriage of elegant foliate decoration and refined lettering, this leaf from a missal is characteristic of Gothic manuscript illumination in northern France. The taut vines and letters are close to those on a number of manuscript leaves attributed to the city of Beauvais. The text comprises the special prayers for the feast of Saint John the Baptist (June 24): readings from Psalm 91 and the Books of Isaiah and Jeremiah, the Gradual, the Gloria, and the Alleluia.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Manuscript Leaf with Initial M, from a MissalManuscript Leaf with Initial M, from a MissalManuscript Leaf with Initial M, from a MissalManuscript Leaf with Initial M, from a MissalManuscript Leaf with Initial M, from a Missal

The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world. Displayed in both The Met Fifth Avenue and in the Museum's branch in northern Manhattan, The Met Cloisters, the collection encompasses the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome in the fourth century to the beginning of the Renaissance in the early sixteenth century. It also includes pre-medieval European works of art created during the Bronze Age and early Iron Age.