Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts

Lectionary
Italy, Padua, 1436
MS M.180 fol. 11v

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Christ: Nativity -- Nude Christ Child, crossed nimbus, reclines on cloth; Virgin Mary, nimbed and veiled, with joined hands, kneels (?) beside Him. At left are ass and ox next to wattle manger. Above, on cloud, one of half-figures of three angels holds scroll inscribed GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEI. Joseph, wearing hood, resting head on right hand, holding crutch with left hand, sits in background. All beneath thatched roof of open shed.
Shepherds: Annunciation -- On cloud above the shed, half-figure of angel holds scroll inscribed ECCE ANNU(N)CIO UOBIS. Sheep and dogs are below. At right, one of two shepherds, wearing hat and hood, raises right hand, holding pedum with left; the other shepherd, wearing hood, sits on ground holding pedum with left hand. Both look up toward the angel. Goat is in background.
City is in distance at left.