A very large and bright illuminated initial ‘D’, (c. 174/127 x 141 mm), ink on parchment, from an Antiphonal or Gradual.
 
The initial is painted in blue with delicate white tracery on gold rounds. It is internally decorated with blue and pink foliage on a green background with yellow tracery. The ‘D’ is completed with leafy ornaments that extend into the margins with burnished gold discs with brown decoration.
 
The verso contains music in square notation on four-line staves ruled in red, with gothic script in brown ink. The remaining text opens with a large partial decorated letter ‘B’ in red with blue ornaments for the beginning of the chant ‘Benedixi’ (I blessed). A very good example. The pigment is bright and crisp, with minor rubbing to the miniature. The script is partially rubbed. The cutting is somewhat crude.
 
This is a wonderfully bright and luminous example of a historiated initial. This is also a good example of how manuscripts have been viewed throughout the centuries. It is likely that this fragment was removed from its original context during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries. The Victorians are known for the removal of artworks from manuscripts as that is what they prized the most. The cutting of manuscripts is not something that is accepted now, but it teaches us about how they have been viewed and appreciated over time.