Historiated Initial from a Gradual
A historiated initial cut from a 14th-century manuscript gradual, probably made in France or England for liturgical use in a church or monastery, and now held by the J. Paul Getty Museum. The picture shows two seated women in red and pink robes, each holding a child, with a crown above them, all set against burnished gold leaf, giving a designer a clear model for medieval gold-ground framing and the tight layering of figures inside a decorative letter.
