Some Most Amazing Letters: the Montecassino Breviary, c. 1153

These initial capitals come from a breviary produced at the Benedictine Abbey of Montecassino in 1153. One of the prayers mentions that the scribe Sigenulfus wrote the text of the book. Sometimes the scribe also did the elaborate capitals, but sometimes they were done by someone else, so we really don't know if Sigenulfus produced these amazing letters. You can download huge files of these images from the Getty. Above, what the Getty refers to as an "Inhabited Capital C."

Details.

An Inhabited Capital B.

And details. What a strange and marvelous thing is this little book.