VISUAL THEOLOGY

Initial A with Scenes of Easter, ca. 1320, from an Augustinian antiphonary, Nerius (Italian, active 1310–25), Italian (Bologna), Tempera, gold, and ink on parchment , (23.9 x 23.8 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) . Nerius' name is known from his signature on a legal manuscript, for which Bologna, with its great university, was renowned. This example of his work, however, was created for a community of Augustinian monks. The scene weaves the accounts of two Gospels. Following Mark, the women approach the tomb of Jesus to anoint his body but find an angel at his empty tomb. According to Matthew's report of what happened to two holy women on Easter Sunday, they meet Jesus as they leave ■