Initial M: The Death of Saint Dominic

This illuminated initial depicts the death of Saint Dominic Guzman, who was the founder of the Dominican Order, one of the most influential monastic groups of the later Middle Ages. The scene was partly inspired by the accounts of a vision experienced by a Dominican friar named Fra Guala de Brecia (1180-1244). In the vision, Fra Guala saw Dominic ascending into heaven on a ladder held by Christ and the Virgin Mary. Beneath this scene, clergy and friars perform funeral rites over the saint's body. Nearby, the poor and infirm gather, hoping to benefit from the saint's relics. These figures did not feature in Fra Guala's vision, nor are they mentioned in textual accounts of Dominic's death. Instead, their presence reflects the medieval tradition of crowds gathering near a saint's relics in the hopes of being miraculously healed by his or her remains. Significantly, this leaf was made in Bologna where Saint Dominic's relics are kept.