Leaf from a Missal

Place of OriginSouthern France

Dateabout 1170

DimensionsOverall: 13 9/16 x 9 7/16 in. (34.5 x 24 cm)

MediumInk and tempera on vellum.

ClassificationManuscripts

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number

1953.59

Not on View

DescriptionRubics and initials in red. Black revived Carolingian script. No notations, only cues to chants. Mixed text.

Label TextFor medieval Christians, life was marked not only by cycles of days, months, and seasons, but also by annual cycles of worship, which included prayers, readings, and music. The essential service—the mass—featured elements that were the same every day. But each day’s mass also celebrated specific saints or spiritual events. Medieval churchmen organized the annual cycles of worship in a type of book called a missal that specified both the unchanging aspects of the mass with those unique to each day. The missal leaf displayed above is handwritten on parchment, the processed skin of an animal. It specifies portions of the mass for days in mid-September. The first six lines include a selection from the Gospel of St. John, for example, to be read on September 13. The bottom half of the page cites specific texts for September 14, devoted to Saints Cornelius and Cyprian, whose names are executed in red letters (called rubrics). The use of color is not for decoration, but to indicate important divisions in the mass.