Initial G Ornament in medieval and Renaissance manuscripts can be quite fanciful. In this initial, the head of a bird of prey, forming the end of the upper curve of the letter G, bears down with an open beak on the head of a man, forming the end of the lower curve, who glances fearfully up at his attacker. Such displays of imagination usually carried very little symbolism; rather, their purpose seems to... This image shows the reverse of a cutting with a decorated initial from a choir book. Border ornaments These cuttings can be dated to the 15th or 16th centuries. These cuttings contain ornament that would have decorated the borders of a manuscript leaf or formed part of the flourish of a decorated initial.
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