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Initial S: A Woman Leaving Her Husband's House

Unknown and Michael Lupi de Çandiuabout 1290–1310

The J. Paul Getty Museum

The J. Paul Getty Museum
Los Angeles, United States

This historiated initial S opens a chapter dealing with the rights of a husband or wife to household property. A woman leaves her husband, taking with her a curtain. She appears three times, removing the red drape at the left, then exiting the house, and finally leaning over the drape in her new home at the far right. According to the text, if a woman leaves her husband, he has the legal right to take back both her and his possessions. In the center of the composition, the abandoned husband, accompanied by a bondsman, speaks to the head of the woman's new household about reclaiming his property.

The artist astutely used color to make associations among the characters. The husband's clothing and his property are red, while the other man is shown in blue. The wife wears both colors, indicating her conflicted legal status. A woman of the Middle Ages spent much of her life under the guardianship of a man, first her father and then her husband, severely limiting her personal legal rights and economic power.

Details

  • Title: Initial S: A Woman Leaving Her Husband's House
  • Creator: Unknown, Michael Lupi de Çandiu
  • Date Created: about 1290–1310
  • Location Created: Northeastern Spain, Spain
  • Physical Dimensions: Leaf: 36.5 × 24 cm (14 3/8 × 9 7/16 in.)
  • Type: Folio
  • External Link: Find out more about this object on the Museum website.
  • Medium: Tempera colors, gold leaf, and ink on parchment
  • Terms of Use: Open Content
  • Number: 83.MQ.165.207
  • Culture: Spanish
  • Credit Line: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Ms. Ludwig XIV 6, fol. 207
  • Creator Display Name: Unknown Michael Lupi de Çandiu (Spanish, active Pamplona, Spain 1297 - 1305)
  • Classification: Manuscripts (Documents)

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