historiated initial

(Also known as an inhabited initial). In a medieval illuminated manuscript, an initial letter (the first letter of a sentence, verse or chapter) enclosing a scene or figures.

Screen Shot 2014-12-21 at 10.48.55 AMInitial R fom a manuscript of the Moralia in Job. Ms. 173 folio 4v. Ca. 1115-1125. Bibliothèque Municipale, Dijon, France.