Ascension in an Initial V
Niccolò di ser Sozzo Italian
Not on view
This initial illustrates the antiphon for the Feast of the Ascension: Viri [ga]lile [i quid aspicitis in caelum?] ("Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up to heaven?").
Inside the initial V, painted with a luminous gold ground, the Virgin is flanked by Saint Peter (left) and an unidentified apostle (right) who gaze toward the half-length figure of the blessing Christ. This miniature is a typical example of the production of the painter and illuminator Niccolò di Ser Sozzo. The author of a large body of manuscript illuminations in addition to several panel paintings, this artist was the leading miniaturist of Siena in the mid-fourteenth century.
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