E0020 Leaf from a Psalter (Psalterium)
Title
E0020 Leaf from a Psalter (Psalterium)
Subject
Psalter
Description
Flanders; Middle 13th Century. Latin Text; Angular Gothic Script.
Small Psalters of this period are comparatively rare, since Psalters were used primarily in the church services and not by the layman. Here, the letters and ornament still retain all the rigidity of the previous century and give no indication of the rounder type of letter or any beginning of the interest in nature that characterized the work of the scribes in France. The filigree decoration, as well as the line-finishing elements, show, however, more creative freedom than either the initial or the text letters. The small burnished gold letters display considerable skill on the part of the illuminator, for it is difficult to control small designs in the gesso used as a base for the raised gold leaf.
The lining is in ink; the primary textual ink is dark brown, with decoration in red, coral, and two shades of blue. The initial letter of each psalm is illuminated, as are the first letters of every other verse, and the beginnings of the Psalms are marked with prominent Arabic numerals in ink. The discrepancy in numbering the Psalms is caused by varying textual divisions in the Hebrew and Greek versions.
Text: Psalms 21:26-30 (recto) and 21:30-22:3 (verso).
Small Psalters of this period are comparatively rare, since Psalters were used primarily in the church services and not by the layman. Here, the letters and ornament still retain all the rigidity of the previous century and give no indication of the rounder type of letter or any beginning of the interest in nature that characterized the work of the scribes in France. The filigree decoration, as well as the line-finishing elements, show, however, more creative freedom than either the initial or the text letters. The small burnished gold letters display considerable skill on the part of the illuminator, for it is difficult to control small designs in the gesso used as a base for the raised gold leaf.
The lining is in ink; the primary textual ink is dark brown, with decoration in red, coral, and two shades of blue. The initial letter of each psalm is illuminated, as are the first letters of every other verse, and the beginnings of the Psalms are marked with prominent Arabic numerals in ink. The discrepancy in numbering the Psalms is caused by varying textual divisions in the Hebrew and Greek versions.
Text: Psalms 21:26-30 (recto) and 21:30-22:3 (verso).
Source
Fifty Original Leaves from Medieval Manuscripts
Date
Middle 13th century
Rights
Item in public domain. Description provided by Dr. Fred Porcheddu-Engel via the Otto F. Ege digital collection. http://ege.denison.edu/denison_leaf_20.php
Format
300 dpi JPEG; 13 x 9.5 cm
Language
Latin
Type
Medieval manuscript leaf
Identifier
Denison University Leaf 20, Fifty Original Leaves from Medieval Manuscripts
Text
Recto Translation:
[Psalms 21:26-30]
26 With thee is my praise in a great church: I will pay my vows in the sight of them that fear him. 27 The poor shall eat and shall be filled: and they shall praise the Lord that seek him: their hearts shall live for ever and ever. 28 All the ends of the earth shall remember, and shall be converted to the Lord: And all the kindreds of the Gentiles shall adore in his sight. 29 For the kingdom is the Lord's; and he shall have dominion over the nations. 30 All the fat ones of the earth have eaten and have adored...
Verso Translation:
[Psalms 21:30-22:3]
...all they that go down to the earth shall fall before him. 31 And to him my soul shall live: and my seed shall serve him. 32 There shall be declared to the Lord a generation to come: and the heavens shall shew forth his justice to a people that shall be born, which the Lord hath made.
The Lord ruleth me: and I shall want nothing. 2 He hath set me in a place of pasture. He hath brought me up, on the water of refreshment: 3 he hath converted my soul. He hath led me on the paths of justice, for his own name's sake.
[Psalms 21:26-30]
26 With thee is my praise in a great church: I will pay my vows in the sight of them that fear him. 27 The poor shall eat and shall be filled: and they shall praise the Lord that seek him: their hearts shall live for ever and ever. 28 All the ends of the earth shall remember, and shall be converted to the Lord: And all the kindreds of the Gentiles shall adore in his sight. 29 For the kingdom is the Lord's; and he shall have dominion over the nations. 30 All the fat ones of the earth have eaten and have adored...
Verso Translation:
[Psalms 21:30-22:3]
...all they that go down to the earth shall fall before him. 31 And to him my soul shall live: and my seed shall serve him. 32 There shall be declared to the Lord a generation to come: and the heavens shall shew forth his justice to a people that shall be born, which the Lord hath made.
The Lord ruleth me: and I shall want nothing. 2 He hath set me in a place of pasture. He hath brought me up, on the water of refreshment: 3 he hath converted my soul. He hath led me on the paths of justice, for his own name's sake.
Transcription
Recto Transcription: Apud te laus mea in ecclésia magna; vota mea reddam in conspéctu timéntium eum.
Edent páuperes, et saturabúntur, et laudábunt Dóminum qui requírunt eum: vivent corda eórum in saeculum saeculi.
Reminiscéntur et converténtur ad Dóminum univérsi fines terræ;
Et adorábunt in conspéctu ejus univérsæ famíliæ géntium:
Quóniam Dómini est regnum, et ipse dominábitur géntium.
Manducavérunt et adoravérunt omnes pingues terræ; in conspéctu
Verso Transcription: ejus cadent omnes qui descéndunt in terram.
Et ánima mea illi vivet; et semen meum sérviet ipsi.
Annuntiábitur Dómino generátio ventúra; et annuntiábunt cæli justítiam ejus pópulo qui nascétur, quem fecit Dóminus.
23 Dóminus regit me, et nihil mihi déerit: in loco páscuæ, ibi me collocávit.
Super aquam refectiónis educávit me; ánimam meam convértit.
Dedúxit me super sémitas justítiæ propter nomen suum.
Edent páuperes, et saturabúntur, et laudábunt Dóminum qui requírunt eum: vivent corda eórum in saeculum saeculi.
Reminiscéntur et converténtur ad Dóminum univérsi fines terræ;
Et adorábunt in conspéctu ejus univérsæ famíliæ géntium:
Quóniam Dómini est regnum, et ipse dominábitur géntium.
Manducavérunt et adoravérunt omnes pingues terræ; in conspéctu
Verso Transcription: ejus cadent omnes qui descéndunt in terram.
Et ánima mea illi vivet; et semen meum sérviet ipsi.
Annuntiábitur Dómino generátio ventúra; et annuntiábunt cæli justítiam ejus pópulo qui nascétur, quem fecit Dóminus.
23 Dóminus regit me, et nihil mihi déerit: in loco páscuæ, ibi me collocávit.
Super aquam refectiónis educávit me; ánimam meam convértit.
Dedúxit me super sémitas justítiæ propter nomen suum.
Collection
Citation
“E0020 Leaf from a Psalter (Psalterium),” Digital Exhibits | Denison University Archives & Special Collections, accessed April 25, 2024, https://exhibits.denisonarchives.org/items/show/43.