Winchester College Publication Treausry: Collections Bulletin 2019-2020 | Page 6

OBJECTS IN FOCUS
Figures 3 and 4: WC 48, folios 75v and 85v
Figure 5: WC 48, fol. 73r
Cadels in the Office of the Dead
The cadels that appear in the Office of the
Dead are an especially important aspect of
WC 48. Cadels are a form of decoration of
the initial letters of a text, often a chant text
(see figures 3 and 4). They are usually
created in the basic ink of the text and often
include pen flourishes and even faces. 6 The
scribe of WC 48 has expanded the more
customary use of cadels as elaborations on
initial letters, in many cases extending them
into the margins with fantastical creatures.
See, for example, this wolf-like creature
extending from the letter ‘D’ in the
antiphon ‘Dirige domine deus meus in
conspectu tuo viam meam’ (Direct my way
in your sight O Lord my God)
accompanying Psalm 5 (fig. 5, fol. 73r). The
cadel would serve as a marker of this
particular spot in the Office of the Dead
(prayed daily by priests). It could also offer
a visual counterpart to the text in the
meditation of the priest on this passage. Are
we supposed to focus on the eye? Or
perhaps the ear since the psalm starts ‘Verba
mea auribus’ (Give ear to my words)? Does
the open jaw of the creature refer to Psalm
10, ‘Sepulcrum patens est guttur eorum’
(Their throat is an open grave)? The beauty
of these drawings is that there are many
possible interpretations and the priest could
focus on different aspects each time he
meditated on the Office of the Dead.
One notable feature of the cadels is the
several portraits of a man appearing
immediately on fol. 68v (fig. 6) and
continuing in various guises through the
splendid final portrait on ‘Ego sum
6 Winchester College Collections 2019 – 20