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 Franciscans and Dominicans (Psalm 38)
David prays to God in the upper part of the initial D. Below, two groups of friars – Franciscans on the left and Dominicans on the right – look up. They point to their mouths in reference to the opening verse of Psalm 38, written in gold on the right and continuing overleaf, Dixit custodiam vias meas ut non delinquam in lingua mea (‘I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue’). The initial was painted by Hand B.