Initial D[omine] from a Choral Book: King Solomon (c. 1470–1480): Art, History and Details

Initial D[omine] from a Choral Book: King Solomon (c. 1470–1480) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Guglielmo Giraldi del Magri [or del Magro] (Italian).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The initial D takes the form of the Temple at Jerusalem, built by King Solomon, who occupies the initial's interior space. The remaining letters omine (the Latin word for Lord), reside beneath the D against grounds of alternating colors. This once was part of a group of Old Testament portraits decorating a choral book. Giraldi held a privileged reputation as an illuminator for the court of Borso d'Este, Duke of Ferrara (died 1471).

Object facts

• Title: Initial D[omine] from a Choral Book: King Solomon
• Date: c. 1470–1480
• Creator attribution: Guglielmo Giraldi del Magri [or del Magro] (Italian)
• Culture: Italy, Ferrara, 15th century
• Type: Manuscript
• Technique: ink, tempera and gold on vellum
• Dimensions: Sheet: 17 x 14 cm (6 11/16 x 5 1/2 in.)
• Collection: MED - Manuscript Illuminations
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1951.548

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Milliken, William. "Style in Thirteenth and Fifteenth Century Illuminations." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 39, no. 3 (March 1952): 55-56.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.