Item Info

Language: Latin
Folio Number: front
Source: Rare Book Department
Notes: Initial A with the Annunciation
Notes: This initial begins the first response of the first nocturn of Matins for the first Sunday in Advent, "Aspiciens a longe ..." (Long had I been watching). Although the feast of the Annunciation is celebrated on March 25, the Annunciation is often found in antiphonaries marking the beginning of the Advent season, the liturgical season of preparation for the coming of Christ. Inscriptions from Scripture in the scrolls held by the figures in the roundels and in the books held by Christ and the Virgin remind the reader of the theological significance of the birth of Christ. Christ's book proclaims, "Ego sum lux mundi, qui sequitur" (I am the light of the world, he that followeth [me]; John 8:12). The Virgin's book gives the words that Mary spoke to the angel Gabriel: "Ecce ancilla domini fiat michi" (Behold the handmaiden of the Lord, let it be done to me; Luke 1:38). Isaiah is shown twice in the two roundels on the left holding scrolls with the inscriptions "Ecce uirgo co[n]cipiet et pariet" (Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear [a son]"; Isaiah 7:14) and, below, "Egredietur uirga de radice..." (There shall come forth a rod out of the root [of Jesse]"; Isaiah 1:11).
Sirsi Catalog Key: 1627395
Country: Country:Italy
City/Town/Township:Florence

Creation Year (Single Year or Range Begin): 1499
Image Dimensions Width: 255 mm
ShelfMark: Lewis E M 72:1