Photo story: Initial commission

An illuminated “E” depicting Christ presenting his mission to St Peter is believed to have been cut out of a Dominican antiphonary produced in Cologne in the primary half of the 14th century. The initial, painted on vellum, is the primary letter of the antiphon “Ecce ego mitto vos sicut oves in medio luporum” (“Behold, I send you as sheep within the midst of wolves”). It is on the market in Sotheby’s auction of necessary medieval manuscripts collected by the late Ernst Boehlen, on 2 July, with an estimate of £30-40,000