ABSTRACT
In the châMontreuil-Bellay, 15 km south of Saumur and the river Loire, there is a tiny oratory with a vaulted ceiling. Among the painted decorations on that ceiling are included every note of all three voices of a sacred polyphonic piece, Walter Frye's Ave regina celorum. 1 It was probably painted in the early 1480s, that is, at around the same time that Federico II da Montefeltro had two complete polyphonic pieces cut in intarsia for his studiolo at Urbino 2 and another for his studiolo at Gubbio. 3 If any broader pattern is implied by these almost simultaneous displays, it may well be that this was the moment in history when it became common for every educated person to be able to read polyphonic music.
