Verona Orational facts for kids
The Verona Orational, also known as the Libellus Orationum, is a very old prayer book. It was made a long time ago, around the late 600s or early 700s. This special book comes from the Visigothic people, who lived in what is now Spain and Portugal.
It's unique because it's the only religious book from that time that survived before a big invasion by the Moors. It's also the only Visigothic book from that period that has pictures! The book has 127 pages, called folios, and each page is about 330 mm by 260 mm. The words are written in an old style called Visigothic minuscule. A note in the margin suggests it was created in Tarragona, at the church of Saint Fructuosus.
The Verona Orational contains prayers called antiphons and responsories. Interestingly, these prayers don't have any musical notes written with them. So, we don't know how they were sung back then.
Amazing Artwork
On one of the first pages (folio 3r), there's a cool drawing. It's called the "Rose of the Winds" and it's like an early version of a Compass rose. This drawing shows twelve winds gathered around a cross in the middle.
The twelve winds are shown as four heads. Each head has three faces, and trumpets come out of each face's mouth! Each head is inside a circle. These four circles are arranged like a cross around the central cross. The whole drawing is surrounded by two big circles. Even though the drawing has a Christian cross, its style comes from old Roman art.
A Special Riddle
This old book is also important for another reason. It has the very first written example of an early Italian language. This language was different from Late Latin, which was common then. It's written in a flowing style called "northern-Italian cursive minuscule".
This special text is known as the "Veronese Riddle". It says: "Se pareba boves, alba pratalia araba, albo versorio teneba, negro semen seminaba".
This can be translated to:
- "In front of him (he) led oxen,"
- "White fields (he) plowed,"
- "A white plow (he) held,"
- "A black seed (he) sowed."
This riddle is actually a clever way to describe someone holding a pen and writing on a white piece of paper! The "oxen" are the fingers, the "white fields" are the paper, the "white plow" is the pen, and the "black seed" is the ink.
See also
In Spanish: Libellus Orationum para niños
