Dominican Missal

Crucifixion scenes are among the few painted miniatures typically found in missals, the books that guide priests celebrating Catholic Mass. This exquisite Crucifixion appears at the start of the canon, the most solemn part of the Mass. The pen-flourished initials C and M on the facing page are enhanced with fine linear embellishments in red and blue. The rest of the text is written in a late-medieval script called littera textualis, which emphasizes the word unit rather than single letters. This missal once belonged to the Dominican convent of Heiligen Kreuz (Holy Cross) in Regensburg, Germany—hence the tiny Dominican monk at the base of the cross. The convent was founded in 1233, eleven years after Saint Dominic’s death.