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Fragmented Illuminations: Medieval and Renaissance Manuscript Cuttings at the V&A
This display is now closed at V&A South Kensington
Featuring highlights from the museum's collection of over 2,000 cuttings from medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, this display explores the types of books these pieces came from and the 19th-century context in which they were cut up and collected.
Display highlights
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Pentecost, attributed to Silvestro dei Gherarducci, from a gradual made for the monastery of San Michele in Murano, 1392 – 99, Florence, Italy. Museum no. 3045. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London -
Cut-out border ornament, attributed to Domenico Morone, from a Franciscan choirbook, about 1500, Verona, Italy. Museum no. 4918:3. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London -
Initial ‘O’, from an unidentified manuscript, about 1500 – 30, Flanders (now Belgium). Museum no. 7080:4. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London -
Initial ‘R’ with monks singing and playing the organ, from a Cistercian gradual, about 1300 – 50, probably Guelders, Eastern Netherlands. Museum no. 8990A. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London -
Initial ‘A’ and border decoration, copied by Ernesto Sprega after a 15th-century choirbook, before 1862, Siena, Italy. Museum no. E.126-1996. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London -
Initial ‘M’ showing St Giustina and Maximian, by Girolamo da Cremona, from an antiphonary, before 1462, Padua, Italy. Museum no. 817-1894. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London -
Initial ‘C’ with monks dragged into Hell, from a Cistercian choirbook, about 1500 – 30, Netherlands. Museum no. 9004H. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London -
Miniature from the Romance of Kanor, about 1325 – 50, Paris, France. Museum no. 813-1894. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London -
Initial ‘Q’, from Gratian’s Decretum, about 1160 – 65, Pontigny, France. Museum no. 8985C. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London -
Initial ‘B’, showing St Michael and the dragon, from a choirbook, about 1350, Netherlands. Museum no. 4013. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London -
19th-century montage of cuttings from a papal missal, about 1523 – 34, Rome, Italy. Museum no. E.4577-1910. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London -
Irene, attributed to circle of François Le Barbier, from Giovanni Boccaccio, Des Cleres et nobles femmes, about 1460 – 70, Paris, France. Museum no. 4280. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London -
Abbot Johannes von Giltlingen and saints, attributed to Georg Beck, from the Giltlingen Psalter, 1494 – 95, with 19th-century repairs, Augsburg, Germany. Museum no. D.86-1892. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
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Background image: (Detail) Pentecost, attributed to Silvestro dei Gherarducci, from a gradual made for the monastery of San Michele in Murano, 1392 – 99, Florence, Italy. Museum no. 3045. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London