before the main text, but may also be placed at the end, as in the Vivian Bible, or at the start of a particular text in a collection.

In earlier manuscripts the recipient of the book may be a dead saint, the founder of a monastery or monastic order, for example, and the person handing over the book the abbot, or sometimes the scribe of the book. The genre is an extension of other forms of dedication portraits, for example wall-paintings or mosaics in churches showing the person who commissioned