Historiated initial "C" on vellum, circa 1480 ce

Historiated initial "C" on vellum from Vespers in the Common of Confessors created in Italy circa 1480. An imposing initial "C" in dark blue, embellished with green, pink, and orange leaves and other decoration on a burnished gold ground, the center containing a large oval miniature of a bishop seated on his throne. The figure wears a jewelled, gold mitre, with a square golden brooch fastening his green-lined pink cloak over his blue robe, one white-gloved hand raised in blessing, the other holding an open prayer book and supporting a cross staff; the high-backed throne, at the top of which are perched two small animals (perhaps cats or squirrels), set on a stone floor in a courtyard, before brown Romanesque arches of the cloister, above which can be seen the green trees of garden or orchard and a clear blue sky.

The drawing revealed by the paint rubbed from the trees and sky indicates that the artist considered making this an interior scene. The outlines of columns with vaulted ceilings rising from them. The decision to set the scene outdoors makes it much brighter and makes the bishop more acccessible than he would be in the gloom of a Medieval cathedral. The text on the back of the of piece is from the response at Vespers in the common of confessors.