18 same beautiful swirls and foliates extending from the decorated initials. The first and largest initial “O” displays a cross situated on a pink mound, with a blood stained crown of thorns, worn by Jesus at the Crucifixion, hanging upon it. Resting on the foliate border is a peacock, a Christian symbol of the Resurrection and therefore is appropriately placed next to the empty cross of Jesus and on a page with a prayer of salvation and praise of the Resurrection. The text on this side translates as: O cross, our only hope in this time of suffering, grant justice to the faithful and mercy to those awaiting judgment. According to the dealer from whom this leaf was acquired, its decoration is uncommon and difficult to localize, but is believed to be from Bologna. This is a logical assumption due to the fact that Bologna was an important center for the Dominican order and for the making of manuscripts.2 This beautiful leaf is hand painted with rich colors, decorative foliate borders and glorious details of the cross and the Peacock. The exquisiteness of these illuminations complements the beauty of the prayers and the ideology of the protective powers held within the Miracle of the Word. Katherine Bass 1 Pia Palladino, “Manuscript Illumination in Italy, 1400–1600”. Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/iman/hd_iman.htm (October 2003) (accessed15 Oct 2011). 2 Thomas Kren, Italian Illuminated Manuscripts in the J. Paul Getty Museum, (Los Angeles: Getty Publications, 2005), xii.
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