Martyrdom of a Saint, historiated initial from a Choirbook, in Latin [Italy, Umbria, c.1300]

cutting, c.155x135mm, vellum, historiated initial ‘A’ (opening ‘Absterget deus omnem lacrimam ab oculis sanctorum ...’, for the first response of the first nocturn for the feast of Several Martyrs), reverse with part of two lines of text and music on four-line red staves (rastrum c.32mm), loss to gold leaf, silver oxidised, rubbed, cut to shape

From a priv. coll., UK.

The style of this initial is characteristic for Umbrian illumination from the late 13th and early 14th century. It can be compared  most closely to the work of the Maestro dei Messali di Deruta-Salerno, so named after two Missals made for the Cathedrals of Deruta and Salerno (see F. Bologna, La Pittura italiana, 1962) and to the oeuvre of the Primo Maestro dei Corali di San Pietro a Gubbio. A major influence for the work of the Deruta-Salerno Master is a Byzantine element derived from Cimabue (1240-1302). The illumination follows the achievements of the frescoes in the upper Basilica of San Francesco, Assisi, and can thus be dated to c.1300 or slightly earlier.