Happy Birthday, Mary

from medieval artists

Dear bookish friend,

Today is the ancient feast that traditionally celebrates the birth of Mary, the Theotokos. I thought I’d share some medieval art in honor of the occasion. These scenes were inspired by accounts of Mary’s life found outside of the gospels of Mary’s life, like the Protoevangelium of James (ca. second century), or later accounts like the Golden Legend.

Don Silvestro de’ Gherarducci, Manuscript illumination with the birth of Mary in an initial G, ca. 1375, tempera, ink, and gold on parchment, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

This lovely initial is from a choirbook, a “gradual created for the Camaldolese monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli, Florence,” according to the Met. A gradual is a chant sung in Mass. Many of these graduals had glorious large initials in their sheet music. Don’t you love that medieval artists even adorned sheet music in beauty, because of its purpose?