Initial A

1430s

Master of the Cypresses

Associated Names
Master of the Cypresses

Artist, Spanish, active 1434

This is a painting of an illuminated manuscript letter with elaborate designs and mythical creatures. The painting depicts an ornately drawn letter with intricate patterns and vibrant colors. The letter appears surrounded by a blue creature with a goat-like head at the top and a bird-like body extending around the sides. Inside the letter, there are two identical purple creatures facing each other, nestled among green foliage and red flowers. The background is a shimmering gold. Shapes around the border of the letter give the impression of a flaming or radiant design, characteristic of medieval illuminated manuscripts.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    miniature on vellum

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 18.9 x 20.9 cm (7 7/16 x 8 1/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1964.8.1220

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    NGA Miniatures 1975, no. 46, State I

  • Series Title

    13 Initials from a Choir Book,Antiphonary (1964.8.1218-1230)

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Purchased in Madrid in 1849 by William Stirling-Maxwell [1818 - 1878], London (from an album with his device and bookplate as William Stirling). (Bernard M. Rosenthal, Inc., New York); purchased 1960 by Lessing J. Rosenwald; gift to NGA, 1964.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1972

  • Witte Memorial Museum, San Antonio, TX, 1972.

1975

  • Medieval and Renaissance Miniatures from the National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1975, no. 46i, repro.

Bibliography

1975

  • National Gallery of Art. Medieval and Renaissance Miniatures from the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1975: no. 46, I.

1993

  • Anderson, Barbara C. "A Fifteenth-Century Illumination and the Work of Pedro de Toledo." The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal 21 (1993): 21-23.

Wikidata ID

Q64608117

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