Illuminated Initials | Europeana has loaded
Skip to page contents
Europeana home
  • Home
  • Collections
  • Stories
  • Share your collections
  • Log in / Join
Gallery

Illuminated Initials

Many medieval manuscripts are full of decorated capital letters that come in all styles and sizes. But what was their purpose? To learn, read: https://www.europeana.eu/blog/lighting-the-way-how-illuminated-initials-guided-medieval-readers-through-books

Curated by Europeana Published gallery

18 items

Loading results
St. Stephen I (pope)
A Levite sacrificing
St. Hildegundis
Emperor
Saint Ambroise, bust, in the letter D
Moses holding the Tables of the Law
A male saint (St. Philip?) holding a lance or spear
The Crucifixion, with Mary and St. John
St. Fabian, Bishop of Rome, holding a book and St. Sebastian holding a book
The historiated letter B, with Saint Michael fighting the dragon
Christ calling André and Simon in an initial A
Biblia S. Novi Testamenti Cum Interpretatione S. Hieronymi Nominum Hebraicorum
Bern, Burgerbibliothek, Cod. 3 : Biblia latina (Vulgata), Part 1: Genesis to Psalms
St. Michael holding a sword and scales
The Nativity: Mary lies in bed, St. Joseph holds the Christ-child
Book of Hours
Breviary, circa 1300
David playing the harp
  • Previous
  • Of 1
  • Next

Footer

Our mission

Europeana empowers the cultural heritage sector in its digital transformation. We develop expertise, tools and policies to embrace digital change and encourage partnerships that foster innovation.

Find us elsewhere

  • (opens in new window)
  • (opens in new window)
  • (opens in new window)
  • (opens in new window)
  • (opens in new window)

More Info

  • About
  • See requests to Europeana APIs
  • Register for an API key
  • Subscribe to our newsletter (opens in new window)

Help

  • Help
  • Terms & Policies
  • Privacy statement
  • Accessibility
  • Cookies
  • Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Customise website language

  • Български
  • Čeština
  • Dansk
  • Deutsch
  • Ελληνικά
  • Español
  • Eesti
  • Euskara
  • Suomi
  • Français
  • Gaeilge
  • Hrvatski
  • Magyar
  • Italiano
  • Lietuvių
  • Latviešu
  • Malti
  • Nederlands
  • Polski
  • Português
  • Română
  • Slovenčina
  • Slovenščina
  • Svenska

Supporting technical partners

  • Powered by Contentful (opens in new window)
  • Lokalise (opens in new window)
  • Powered by Project Galileo (opens in new window)

The common European data space for cultural heritage home (opens in new window) Funded by the European Union

The common European data space for cultural heritage is an initiative of the European Union, financed by the European Union’s Digital Europe Programme. The data space services, including this website, are operated by a consortium led by the Europeana Foundation under a service contract with the European Commission, contract number LC-01901432.