2-732-163 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Initial S[alve sancta parens] from a Gradual: Madonna and Child, c. 1370-1374. Along with several other excised leaves and miniatures that survive in various libraries and museums, this decorated initial S was part of a magnificent gradual produced in the scriptorium of the monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Florence. The Madonna and Child was a standard image for the Saturday votive Mass to the Virgin. This initial originally introduced the text: Salve sancta parens ("Hail, Holy Mother").