Gradual or Antiphonary. Leaflet with ornate initial,... Lot 39

Gradual or Antiphonary. Leaflet with ornate initial, presenting in Latin the commentary 1: 3 of the Acts of the Apostles. "Post passione su am per dies quadraguita apparens eis, et loquens de Regno Dei". "After he had suffered, he appeared to them alive, and gave them many proofs of it, showing himself to them for forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. Germany (?), 12th-13th century. Dim. 49,8x36 cm on view. The initial P contains a decoration composed of a bearded anthropomorphic hybrid and a deer sticking out its tongue. In the Middle Ages, the hybrid was considered to be half-man, half-animal, upsetting the ideal order intended by Creation. To depict this figure of disorder in a liturgical book is hardly surprising. This creature, here accompanied by a mocking deer, makes visible the transgressive nature of the actions of individuals and bears witness to the loss of resemblance to God. Its function is thus eschatological. The date of production of the manuscript to which this leaf belongs could be around the 13th century, a period during which the bestiary of hybrid creatures developed strongly. The treatment of the figures suggests a German origin. Bibliography: BARTHOLEYNS Gil, DITTMAR Pierre-Olivier, JOLIVET Vincent, Image et transgression au Moyen Âge, Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, 2008, pp. 33-34.