Display On now until Sunday, 8 May 2022

Fragmented Illuminations: Medieval and Renaissance Manuscript Cuttings at the V&A

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  • On now until Sunday, 8 May 2022

  • Rooms 88A–90

  • Free

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

manuscript cutting
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
manuscript cutting
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
manuscript cutting
Initial ‘O’, from an unidentified manuscript, about 1500 – 30, Flanders (now Belgium). Museum no. 7080:4. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
manuscript cutting
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
watercolour
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
manuscript
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
manuscript cutting
Initial ‘C’ with monks dragged into Hell, from a Cistercian choirbook, about 1500 – 30, Netherlands. Museum no. 9004H. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
manuscript cutting
Miniature from the Romance of Kanor, about 1325 – 50, Paris, France. Museum no. 813-1894. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
manuscript cutting
Initial ‘Q’, from Gratian’s Decretum, about 1160 – 65, Pontigny, France. Museum no. 8985C. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
manuscript cutting
Initial ‘B’, showing St Michael and the dragon, from a choirbook, about 1350, Netherlands. Museum no. 4013. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
manuscript cutting
19th-century montage of cuttings from a papal missal, about 1523 – 34, Rome, Italy. Museum no. E.4577-1910. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
manuscript cutting
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
manuscript cutting
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