How to Break Down a Page like a Medievalist
Getty medievalist Larisa Grollemond on what's important in a manuscript
Initial I: The Lord Enthroned with the Sun, Moon, and Stars (detail), about 1450, Circle of Stefan Lochner. Gold leaf, tempera, and black ink, 14 7/16 × 10 1/4 in. Getty Museum, Ms. Ludwig I 13, fol. 3, 83.MA.62.3
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If you’ve ever wondered how medievalists make sense of manuscripts, you’re in luck!
Today, we’re breaking down this page from a Bible made around 1450 in Cologne (present-day Germany).
Each page in a manuscript is called a folio, and each folio has a front, the recto, and a back, the verso. The page you see here is folio 3, recto.
This was a very carefully planned book, so each folio has a few things going on. First, the Latin text is written in two ruled columns, in this case, separated by a band of decoration that extends into both upper and lower margins. Look closely and you can see the rule lines laid down by the scribe.
Above the upper marginal decoration, the heading, “Genesis,” indicates the Biblical book that you’re in.
The text written in red is called a rubric. A rubric tells the reader when they’ve reached the end of a portion of text, called the explicit. The beginning of a new part of text is called the incipit.
In addition to the floral border decoration, this page also features two fancy initials.
The first one, the letter D, is the easiest to spot and is called a decorated initial.
Can you spot the other initial? Need a hint? It’s in between the two columns. This one’s called a historiated initial, in this case, a big I for “in principio.”
That’s it—a few tools to help you look at a manuscript like a medievalist!
This manuscript page is available to download for free by searching Getty's Open Content Online Library.
Want to learn more about life in the Middle Ages from medievalist Larisa Grollemond? Head to our Instagram page.
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