Toledo Museum of Art
Dublin Core
Title
Subject
Description
Digitized image of manuscript on parchment. 1 folio,14 lines. Ruled in red with text in Northern Gothic script, below top line.
Light brown staining at upper and lower left margin. Sewing hole visible near upper left corner, with another possibly visible at left margin near line 2. Left margin is uneven towards lower corner (torn or cut so that it curves inward).
The word "orando" is added as a superscript on line 2. Rubricated "R" on line 7 and rubricated "V" on line 11. Responses are written in a smaller module.
Decorative panel at outer right margin features pattern of red and blue triangles with acanthus decoration at sides of panel leaving diamond-shaped openings with floral sprays over gold background.
Creator
Source
Publisher
Date
Contributor
Rights
Netherlands, Illuminated Leaf from a Book of Hours, late 15th century, 7 x 5 3/16 in., The Toledo Museum of Art (Toledo, Ohio), Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, 1953.129UU
Relation
Format
Language
Type
Identifier
Coverage
Text Item Type Metadata
Original Format
18 x 13 cm
Text
-los terge atque semittas [sic] iusticiae obstende [sic]. Orando a nobis vicia [sic] substrahe [sic] atque sancta plantaria virtutum nobis insere impetra cursum quo supernum consequamur bravium. Tu. R. Beata es virgo maria quae dominum portasti creatorem mundi. Genuisti qui te fecit et in aeternum permanes virgo. V. Ave maria gratia plena dominus tecum. Genuisti qui te fecit et in aeternum permanes virgo. Jube domine benedicere. Sancta
Translation
cleanse [our eyes] and show us the paths of justice. By means of praying remove faults from us and plant in us the holy saplings of the virtues. Obtain [for us the] course by which we may achieve the celestial prize. You. R. Blessed are you, Virgin Mary, who carried the Lord, the creator of the world. You gave birth to the one you made you while eternally remaining a virgin. V. Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. You gave birth to the one you made you while eternally remaining a virgin. Bid [me], Lord, to bless. Holy
Notes
The beginning of line 1 completes the phrase "Caecos cordium oculos terge," or "cleanse the blind eyes of [our] hearts." This text characteristically appears as the second lesson of Matins in the Use of Troyes, as well as in the Use of Paris (see Learning from New Additions for a more complete discussion).
On line 2, the word "vicia" may represent a non-standard spelling of "vitia", the accusative plural of "vitium, vitii," meaning "fault, defect, sin". Other departures from standard orthography on this leaf include "semittas" for "semitas" (line1), "obstende" for "ostende" (line 2), and "substrahe" for "subtrahe" (line 3).
However, given that the rest of the sentence continues the metaphor of cultivating a field with the use of the word "plantaria" (meaning either young trees or twigs cut for grafting), the intended word may be "vicia, viciae," meaning "vetch" or "tare" (despite the lack of the expected accusative case form). Readers familar with the parable of the wheat and the tares in Matthew 13:24-30 would be used to the concept of weeds as a metaphor for sin or sinners (although the Vulgate uses the word "zizania" for "tare" in Matthew 13 rather than "vicia"). In any event, the reference is clearly to the removal of defects in the soul.
On line 7, "Tu." is an abbreviation for "Tu autem domine miserere mei" (see Book of Hours of the Blessed Virgin Mary, University of Iowa, xMMs.Bo6, f.38r).
The last word of line 14, "Sancta," likely begins the benediction "Sancta dei genetrix sit nobis auxiliatrix," which typically precedes the third lesson in this series of readings (e.g Iowa xMMs.Bo6, f.38v; Houghton Library Ms. Latin 159, 34v; see also Margot E. Fassler and Rebecca A. Balzer, The Divine Office in the Latin Middle Ages: Methodology and Source Studies, Regional Developments, Hagiography, Oxford University Press: 2000, p. 475).
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