# Initial S\[alve sancta parens\] from a Gradual: Madonna and Child

- By: Don Silvestro dei Gherarducci (Italian, 1339–1399)
- Date: c. 1370–74
- Medium: ink, tempera, and gold on vellum
- Classification: Manuscript
- Dimensions: Sheet: 16 x 13 cm (6 5/16 x 5 1/8 in.)
- Culture: Italy, Florence
- Credit line: Gift from J. H. Wade
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1924.1012)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/cma/1924.1012/1924.1012_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Along with several other excised leaves and miniatures that survive in various libraries and museums, this decorated initial S was part of a magnificent gradual produced in the scriptorium of the monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Florence. The Madonna and Child was a standard image for the Saturday votive Mass to the Virgin. This initial originally introduced the text: Salve sancta parens (“Hail, Holy Mother”).