Mechelen, Belgium, Archief en Stadsbibliotheek, MS s.s., All folios
Physical description
Material: parchment
Number of leaves: iii + 110
Format: upright
Page dimensions: 655 x 437
Quire structure: Text version
Other devices: 1. Modern pencil foliation in upper right corner, 1-110.
Page details (zoom):
Preparation and Copying
All foliosPreparation
Disposition of Voice Parts Key
Signe de renvoi
| Pricking |
always,
Prickings for vertical bounding line at bottom and top throughout. Prickings often in outer margins as guides for maximum of ten staves, corresponding to the bottom line of each stave. |
| Ruled grid |
always,
single line to left and right, double line for text |
| Ruling pattern | fairly regular |
| Staves omitted from grid | often |
| Incomplete staves | never |
| Medium and colour of grid | Frequency | Folios | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| lead point and brown ink | normally | for bounding lines | |
| hard point or lead point | occasionally | for text lines | |
| Colour of staves | Frequency | Folios | Note |
| black | always | ||
| Ruling medium | Frequency | Folios | Note |
| single rastrum | always | ||
| Indentation for initials | Frequency | Folios | Note |
| triple | rarely | 1v, 16v, 18v, 34v, 49v, 50v, 63v, 65v, 81v, 82v, 95v | for discantus at beginning of Masses; at the beginning of Kyrie sections |
| double | often | ||
| single | often | ||
| Extra space between voice parts | Frequency | Folios | Note |
| staves not ruled on grid | often | ||
| empty ruled staves on grid | occasionally | ||
| Space provided for separate text | Frequency | Folios | Note |
| no separate text | never | ||
| Adhoc adaptation | Frequency | Folios | Note |
| notation and staves extended into margin | occasionally |
Copying of text and music
| Language(s) | Latin |
|---|---|
| Higlighting | none |
| Order of Copying |
music first
always |
| Presence/absence of text | Voice part | Frequency | Folios | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| fully texted with one text | all voice parts | normally | ||
| fully texted with two or more texts | tenor | occasionally | 16v, 19v, 20v, 21v, 22v, 24r, 25r, 31v, 32v, 34v, 37r, 41v, 63v, 95v, 97v, 105v | Double texting is restricted to voices bearing the cantus firmus, combining the cantus firmus with the text of the Ordinarium Missae. |
Music
| Colour(s) of notation | black |
| Type(s) of notation | void mensural |
| Monophonic notation | absent |
| Level of calligraphy | very high |
| Non verbal performance instructions | Folios | Note |
|---|---|---|
| signes-de-renvoi | A cross with 2–4 rhombus-shaped dots around the centre (see ff. 3v–4r, 4v–5r, 6v–7r, 9v–10r, 10v–11r, 17v–18r, 18v–19r, 21v–22r, 24v–25r, 27v–28r, 31v–32r, 32v–33r, 42v–43r, 43v–44r, 44v–45r, 53v–54r, 59v–60r, 68v–69r, 71v–72r, 76v–77r, 79r, 88v–89r, 89v–90r, 91v–92r, 96v–97r, 99v–100r, 101v–102r, 102v–103r, 107v–108r, 108v–109r [symbol on recto in brown ink]), a sort of trefoil formed by three diamond shapes and a descending loop (see ff. 14v–15r), a sort of trefoil formed by three balls and a descending loop or stroke (see ff. 16v–17r, 25v–26r, 26v–27r, 35v–36r, 36v–37r, 37v–38r, 41v–42r, 45v–46r, 55v–56r, 56v–57r, 65v–66r, 66v–67r, 74v–75r, 75v–76r, 78v–79r, 79v–80r), a kind of diamond formed by four small diamond shapes with a descending stroke (see ff. 19v–20r, 23v–24r, 47v–48r), a sunflower-like symbol (see ff. 70v–71r) and a stylised battle-axe crossed with a stylised crown (see ff. 73v–74r). | |
| coronae | shaped as a half circle around a dot | |
| signa congruentiae | in form of three pyramidal dots ending in a stroke or loop | |
| custodes | straight | |
| Line fillers | Folios | Note |
| occasionally | 20v–21r, 22v, 24v, 26v–27r, 27v–28r, 28v, 29v–30r, 31r, 32r, 32v–33r, 47v–48r, 93v, 98v | in the form of a series of tapering vertical lines, extending the normal double vertical lines that mark the end of a section |
Text 1
| Types of script | cursive (bastarda) |
| Level of calligraphy | very high |
| Colour(s) of text | black red Red ink is used sometimes for voice-names on the first opening of a work (see ff. 2r, 17r, 34v, 35r, 50r) and, more frequently, for specific words or phrases in the cantus firmus voice (see ff. 1v, 4v, 6v, 9v, 12v, 16v, 17v, 18v, 19v, 20v, 21v, 22v, 24r, 25r, 27v, 29v, 31v, 32v, 34v, 35r, 36r, 37r, 39v, 40v, 41v, 43v, 45v, 47v, 49v, 50r, 63v, 66v, 72v, 74v, 78v, 79v, 80v, 95v, 96r, 96v, 97v, 98v, 99v, 100v, 101v, 102v, 103v, 105v, 107v, 108v, 109v). Although rubrics are in general written in black ink, those for ‘duo’ (ff. 30v–31r, 45v–46r), ‘fuga’ (f. 46v) and ‘canon…’ (f. 98v) are written in red. The two headers (ff. 64r and 96r) that specify the titles and the number of voices (and, in the latter case, also the composer’s name) are also written in red. |
| Multiple texts | yes |
| Text repetitions | few |
| Abbreviations | few |
| Non underlaid vocal text | none |
| Liminary text | two headers (ff. 64r and 96r) that give the titles and number of voices and in the latter case also the composer’s name tacet inscriptions (ff. 28v, 44v, 58v, 104v, 106v, see Blackburn 2005) |
Text 2
| Types of script | display script |
| Types of script size position | for voice-names, 'residuum' rubrics and short instructions |
| Level of calligraphy | very high |
| Colour(s) of text | black red |
Decoration
| Level of Decoration | very high |
| Decoration miniature frequency | Folios | Size position | Description | Discrepancies | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| rarely | 1v-2r | miniatures, three staves high, for the discantus at the beginning of the first four Masses | 1v: Archduke Charles, the future Emperor Charles V, accompanied by his five siblings, flanked by three standing figures on each side: on the left, a Pope, a bishop and a cardinal represent the clergy; on the right, three men represent the nobility, the army and the peasantry 1v: arms of Austria and arms of New Burgundy 2r: arms of Portugal and arms of Burgundy-Habsburg quartered with Spain | |||
| rarely | 16v-17r | miniatures, three staves high, for the discantus at the beginning of the first four Masses | 16v: Resurrection of Christ 17r: Maximilian I in Prayer | |||
| rarely | 34v-35r | miniatures, three staves high, for the discantus at the beginning of the first four Masses | 34v: St Anne with the unborn Mary in her womb, enthroned between David and Solomon 34v-35r: Portraits of six popes holding scrolls concerning the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception | |||
| rarely | 49v | miniatures, three staves high, for the discantus at the beginning of the first four Masses | 49v: Annunciation to the Virgin | |||
| Decoration border frequency | Border type | Folios | Size | Position | Description | Discrepancies |
| rarely | decorated | 1v-2r, 16v-17r, 34v-35r, 49v-50r | partial borders: one- and two-sided | outer margin, upper margin | flowers, strawberries, acanthus branches, birds, butterflies, snails, caterpillars, on coloured grounds, partly with scrolls relating to the miniatures | |
| Decoration initial type | Frequency | Folios | Initial type(s) | Size position | Description | Discrepancies |
| initials planned | never | |||||
| painted initials | rarely | 16v, 17r, 34v, 49v, 50r | decorated, decorated with grotesque heads | at beginning of Masses | acanthus initials, partly with grotesque heads, on coloured grounds | |
| penned initials | normally | calligraphic , calligraphic with decoration | calligraphic initials with white borders for major openings calligraphic initials | |||
| penned initials | rarely | 64r | calligraphic | at beginning of Mass (f. 64r) | calligraphic initials in red or blue ink, | |
| penned initials | occasionally | 63v, 81v-82r, 95v-96r | calligraphic with decoration, calligraphic with grotesque heads | beginning of Masses (ff. 63v, 81v-82r, 95v-96r) | composite or calligraphic initials decorated with grotesque heads, coloured with soft washes, at beginning of Masses (ff. 63v, 81v-82r, 95v-96r); the last one bears the name ‘Iaques Scoon’, which could refer to the calligrapher’s name (Destrée 1898, 105–6; Picker 1965, 34) | |
| Other decoration frequency | Folios | Other decoration type(s) | Size position | Description | Discrepancies | |
| never | ||||||