Knights of the Crusades Manuscript Leaf

Knights of the Crusades Manuscript Leaf

French (probably Paris), 15th century

Single leaf with miniature added ca. 1900(?)

Language: Latin

ink on vellum
height 24cm
width 19 cm

Ms. leaf from a fifteenth-century Italian manuscript antiphonal on vellum that contains a forged illumination from the late 19th or early 20th century, probably French from Paris, known as the Spanish forger.

A large miniature showing crusading knights arriving at the walls of Jerusalem. The lead knight is fully armed and mounted on a caparisoned horse. The Saracens are shown emerging from the city gate, their leader having just doffed his helmet and laid down his sword and shield in surrender to the victorious Crusaders ... The miniature is painted in the upper half of a full antiphonal leaf on vellum ... Below the miniature are 3 lines of musical notation ... (Bloomsbury Auctions website)

Reed College Library Special Collections, BX875.A2 S63