Psalter
Texts and Images
Medieval Psalters, comprising 150 Psalms, were often divided into ten sections for daily recitation, with historiated initials marking the main divisions at Psalms 1, 26, 38, 51, 52, 68, 80, 97, 101 and 109. Originally, the Macclesfield Psalter would have contained a complete set of initials — one for each 'division' Psalm — but due to a loss of folios, the historiated initials for Psalms 68, 80, and 101 are missing.
Various subjects were used to illustrate the opening initials of the Psalms marking these main divisions, although many illuminators throughout Western Europe adopted the standard imagery conceived c. 1200 in Paris, the leading centre of manuscript production. The vast majority of 14th-century English Psalters show the images familiar from the Parisian programme. By contrast, with one exception (the initial for Psalm 52, fol. 77r), the Macclesfield Psalter follows an English programme of Psalm illustration that is first found in early 13th-century Psalters associated with Winchester and Oxford. The pictorial cycle includes events from the life of King David (the purported author of the Psalms), Jonah’s encounter with a great fish, images relating to Christ’s Incarnation, and other aspects of biblical history and doctrine. Only three other extant 14th-century Psalters follow the English pictorial programme as consistently: the Gorleston Psalter (London, BL, Add MS 49622), the Ormsby Psalter (Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Douce 366), and the Douai Psalter (Douai, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 313). All three manuscripts are closely related to the Macclesfield Psalter. Lesser text divisions are signalled by smaller ornamental initials with foliate motifs, ‘portrait’ busts, and, occasionally, geometric patterns, and small initials in burnished gold on coloured grounds.
Historiated initial B: Tree of Jesse (Psalm 1)
The initial shows Old Testament kings (Christ’s ancestors) and prophets (who foretold his coming) enclosed in medallions within the entwined branches of the ‘tree’ forming the letter B for Beatus (‘Blessed’). Jesse lies at the bottom of the central stem with his son David and grandson Solomon above, and the Virgin Mary and Christ at the top. The Tree of Jesse sums up the genealogy of Christ and the story of human salvation at the beginning of Psalm 1. It encapsulates the meaning of the entire Psalter, which lies in the relationship between David and Christ and between the Old and New Testaments. The initial extends into a full border with a bas-de-page scene of a hybrid musician and a warrior and griffin in combat.