The Pontifical of Renaud de Bar

Office for the Dedication of a Church

Texts and Images

This long text has nineteen large miniatures, several of which are displayed on the right. The cycle opens with an illustration of a group of people praying in front of a reliquary (a shrine containing saintly relics) on the eve of the dedication of a church (fol. 1r). It ends with a miniature showing a bishop and clergy processing towards the altar before celebrating the Mass of dedication (fol. 50r).

The twenty-four letters of the Greek alphabet, and three additional characters, are rendered in burnished gold beneath the miniature. The partial bar border is decorated with a hybrid and foliate motifs. A cleric holding an open book is depicted in the historiated initial O, and a rabbit with a harp and a half fish, half human hybrid are shown in the bas-de-page.

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