page_title: Inhabited initial
hierarchical_section_title: Inhabited initial
caption_attribution_description: Marking the beginning of a new section of prayers in this breviary from Montecassino in southern Italy, the almost full-page inhabited initial E begins the prayer Excita, D[omi]ne, quesumus potentiam tuam [‘Rouse up your power, Lord, we pray’]. Within the spiraling tendrils of the E and the circular medallions punctuating its rectangular frame, dogs curl and twist. The frame's thick, gold bars, which themselves bulge at the corners and center sides, barely restrain the writhing dogs and the vine's wild lines. Little differentiates the spirals forming the armature of the letter from those filling in its circular voids. The vine sprouts stylized leaves in a variety of different stages, from those just beginning to unfurl to those already full and extended.
context_page_description: An inhabited initial is an initial, an enlarged letter at the beginning of a paragraph or other section of text that contains an illustration of human or animal figures within the letter. It is similar to a historiated initial; however, the figures in historiated initials show an identifiable scene or story, while the figures in inhabited initials do not show a narrative. Figures in inhabited initials may be related to the contents of the text, but do not have to be. They may be purely decorative instead.
context_section_description: An inhabited initial is an initial, an enlarged letter at the beginning of a paragraph or other section of text that contains an illustration of human or animal figures within the letter. It is similar to a historiated initial; however, the figures in historiated initials show an identifiable scene or story, while the figures in inhabited initials do not show a narrative. Figures in inhabited initials may be related to the contents of the text, but do not have to be. They may be purely decorative instead.
caption: Inhabited initial "E" from an Italian breviary, 1153 AD[1]
exif: {}