The Trinity in an Initial B

The Master of the Codex Rossiano, named after a celebrated illuminated manuscript in the Vatican Library, created this Trinity in an Initial B around 1387. This historiated initial—a letter containing a narrative scene—demonstrates the close relationship between manuscript illumination and panel painting in late Gothic Italy. Now in the Robert Lehman Collection, it showcases the miniaturist's art at its most refined, where theological complexity was distilled into an intimate, jewel-like format.

Painted in egg tempera with gold leaf and possibly shell gold on parchment or prepared panel, this historiated initial demonstrates extraordinary precision in its minute figural work. The Trinity is composed within the curved and vertical strokes of the letter B, with rich ultramarine and vermilion pigments creating luminous contrasts against burnished gold.