Antiphonary

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Accession number:

MS M.870.1-3

Title:

Antiphonary

Created:

Regensburg, Germany, ca. 1310.

Description:

3 leaves (8 lines and 8 staves), matted : vellum, ill. ; 495 x 375 mm.

Provenance:

The Regensburg Antiphonary was probably made for the Dominican Convent of the Holy Cross, Regensburg (Dominikanerinnenkloster Heilig Kreuz Regensburg); purchased in 1876 at the Holy Cross monastery library sale by the book dealer Alfred Coppenrath; (subsequently the manuscript was broken up and its leaves sold separately); purchased from R. Stora, New York, in Nov. 1954.

Notes:

Ms. antiphonary single leaves, written and illuminated in Regensburg, Germany, ca 1310.
Decoration: M.870.1: 1 historiated initial H(odie nobis) with the Nativity; M.870.2: 1 historiated initial D [should be C(um perambularet) with the crucifixion of St. Andrew, signed GERWIRCH below; M.870.3: 1 historiated initial D(iem festum sacratissime virginis) depicting St. Agnes covered with long blond hair.
Text: M.870.1: music and text for part of the feast of Christmas; M.870.2: music and text for the Proper of St. Andrew; M.870.3: music and text for the Proper of St. Agnes.
Artist: the name GERWIRCH, signed under the historiated initial on M.870.2 was first thought to be that of the illuminator, but more recent scholars hold that it refers to the manuscript's patron.
21 leaves are known to survive from the Regensburg Antiphonary. 17 were offered by R. Stora in 1954: 1) D - St. Andrew Crucified - Pierpont Morgan Library MS M.870.2 2) H - Nativity - Pierpont Morgan Library MS M.870.1 3) C - Massacre of the Innocents - Jörn Günther Antiquariat 4) S - Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter - Walters Art Gallery, MS W.754B 5) O - Crucifixion - present location unknown 6) D - St. Agnes - Pierpont Morgan Library MS M.870.3 7) A - Presentation in the Temple - Houghton Library, Harvard 8) ? - another leaf owned by the Houghton Library, Harvard 9) O - St. Lucy/St. Agatha - Philippe Verdier, Haversham, Rhode Island 10) M - Annunciation - present location unknown 11) O - St. Bartholemew - present location unknown 12) U - Beheading of St. Katherine - present location unknown 13) D - Circumcision - Walters Art Gallery, MS W.754.A 14) L - Creation of Eve - present location unknown 15) S - Stoning of St. Stephen - Jörn Günther Antiquariat 16) U - SS. John and Jacob? - present location unknown 17) C - Christ Praying - present location unknown. The remainder are found in Stockholm - National Museum, Ernest Erickson Foundation, MS Med. 1-4 18) A - Prophet 19) H - Baptism of Christ 20) Q - Conversion of St. Paul 21) E - penwork initial
Musical notation: Each leaf has 4-line staves in red ink, square notes.

Script:

textura

Language:

Latin

Resources:

Description/Bibliography

Century:

14th century

Genres:

Antiphonaries

Illuminated manuscripts

Historiated initials