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The ornamental pen-work in the design of the principal initials is conservative in
Pa903, much less elaborate than that of the other Aquitanian graduals (compare the “P”
examples from the third Sunday of Advent in the Figure). But the design of the initials
and capitals in Pa903 is in a similar style to that of its contemporaries.
Similarly, in Pa903 (and in Pa1132) the conventionally elaborate page which
begins the first Sunday of Advent (introit Ad te levavi) is modestly presented as text in
rustic and uncial capitals, in contrast to the letter-overlapping orthography of the other
graduals (Figure 3-2). It appears that this page in Pa903 originally reserved sufficient
space to accommodate a large ornamental initial; but a communion and trope with music
and text in two parallel versions was inserted there instead. 7
The gradations of decorative elaboration in these manuscripts reflect the relative
hierarchy of the feasts of the gradual. The use of uncial capitals is a formal allusion to
the earlier (Merovingian) style of book hand practiced before the arrival of Carolingian
minuscule. While the different graduals display different levels of decorative
elaboration, the relative hierarchy of the content is maintained consistently throughout
each book.
2. Provenance
The evidence for the date and place of origin of Pa903 is circumstantial, in that
there are no references to a contemporary pope or bishop in the manuscript, nor any other
notes that specifically identifies the owners or scriptorium of the codex. 8 Gabriel Tissot,
7 Jacques Chailley, L'école musicale de Saint Martial de Limoges (Paris: Les Livres essentials,
1960):86.
8 A seeming exception is the front guard paper, made from a manuscript charter of St. Martial of
Limoges (Privilegium D’Arnaco) in 1023 (Appendix A3-1). But guard papers were typically made from
available and otherwise useless parchment, bound into the manuscript to protect the first folia at any time it
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