Psalter
Texts and Images
Psalms 1, 26, 38, 52, 68, 80, 97 and 109 introduce the eight groups into which most 13th-century French Psalters were divided for daily recitation. These eight Psalms open with historiated initials painted on highly burnished gold grounds by a single artist (Hand B). Most of them show King David in prayer and scenes illustrating the Psalms’ opening verses. Ordinary Psalms open with fully illuminated ornamental initials – pink or blue letters on gold grounds, or gold letters on pink and blue grounds, with green or black added in initials painted by two of the assistants (Hands 3 and 5 respectively).
David praying with the Father and the Son (Psalm 109)
David prays to God in the upper part of the initial D. Below, the first two Persons of the Trinity are seated on a bench: the Father, blessing and holding the orb of the world on the right, and the Son, holding a book on the left (the Father’s right). This standard image for Psalm 109 in 13th-century French Psalters and Bibles illustrates the opening verse of the Psalm, written in gold on the right and continuing beneath the image, Dixit dominus domino meo sede a dextris meis (‘The Lord said to my Lord: sit thou at my right hand’). The initial was painted by Hand B.