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(183x128mm) Original leaf from a Renaissance manuscript Gradual. Exceptional full-page miniature painting on animal vellum.

France, c. 1550, From the Royal Workshop of Henri II.

This leaf contains a sectional title for the Gradual & depicts two angels with red, gold & blue wings dressed in pink & blue holding the dedication. A ribbon flowing above and against a starlit sky reads the opening to Psalm 149: ''Cantate Domino...'' (Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle).

Recto contains three large illuminated initials in blue or pink & white on a gold ground with a floral motif; one illuminated initial, & one versal in liquid gold over grounds of blue or red with gold tracery.

Graduals contain the musical chants for the proper of the Mass: introits, graduals, tracts, alleluia, offertory and communion verses, and sequences for special feasts. They may also include chants for the ordinary of the Mass: Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Agnus Dei and for the introductory asperges rite.