Angel in a Historiated Initial "A" from an Antiphonary

Neri da Rimini · 1300/10

Medium

Manuscript cutting in tempera and gold leaf, with gothica textualis inscriptions in Latin in black ink, ruled in red and blue, and with other decorations, on parchment

Original size

Initial: 13 × 12.5 cm (5 1/8 × 4 15/16 in.); Sheet: 53.5 × 38.5 cm (21 1/8 × 15 3/16 in.)

Currently held

Art Institute of Chicago

Movement

Medieval

Nestled within the curve of an ornate initial letter, this luminous angel from Neri da Rimini captures the intimate devotion of early fourteenth-century Italian manuscript art at its most refined. Neri da Rimini was among the foremost illuminators working in the Adriatic region during the late Duecento and early Trecento, a period when Rimini had developed its own distinctive school of painting influenced by both Byzantine tradition and the emerging naturalism spreading from central Italy. His figures carry a gentle solemnity — faces modelled with careful gradation, drapery folded in precise, rhythmic patterns — executed in egg tempera and burnished gold leaf on parchment, a medium demanding both precision and patience. The gothic textualis script surrounding the image was integral to the composition, not decoration as an afterthought. This cutting originates from an antiphonary, a liturgical book used by choral communities to sing the Divine Office, meaning this angel once accompanied the voices of monks or canons in prayer. Our hand-painted oil reproduction translates Neri's layered tempera technique into oils, preserving the warm gold tones, the delicate flesh modelling, and the jewel-like intensity that make this small-scale masterpiece feel far larger than its physical dimensions suggest.