The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Leaf from a Psalter: Historiated Initial D with The Trinity

Leaf from a Psalter: Historiated Initial D with The Trinity

c.1310
Location: not on view

Description

Although English, the design of this psalter page follows the fashion of French book illumination. In particular, the white flesh tones, elegant wavy coiffures, and elongated fingers of the figures relate this leaf to the Queen Mary Psalter, probably the most "Parisian" of all surviving English illuminated manuscripts of the early 1300s. The Queen Mary Psalter is named after the 16th-century English queen who appears to have once owned it. The artistic connections between France and England during this period are puzzling and often show influence moving in both directions. The workshop of the Queen Mary Psalter appears to have been active in East Anglia between 1310 and 1335, though its specific location remains unknown. It presumably competed with workshops in Norwich, Cambridge, Bury St. Edmunds, and the so-called "Fenland" workshops. A large initial D for Dixit dominus domino. . . . (The Lord said unto my Lord. . . . ) introduces the text, the opening of Psalm 109, within which appears the Trinity.
  • Parish church of St. Botulph at Iken in Suffolk; [Sotheby's, London, 10 December 1969, lot 36 (for sister leaves)]; [Bruce Ferrini, Akron]
  • Fliegel, Stephen N. The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection of Manuscript Illuminations. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 23, cat. no. 15 archive.org
  • Illuminated Manuscripts. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (October 10, 2004-October 2, 2005).
    The Cleveland Museum of Art (10/10/2004 - 10/02/2005); "Illuminated Manuscripts"
    The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection of Manuscript Illuminations. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 19, 1999-February 27, 2000).
    CMA, 19 December 1999 - 27 February 2000, The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection of Manuscript Illuminations, cat. 15, illus. p. 23.
  • {{cite web|title=Leaf from a Psalter: Historiated Initial D with The Trinity|url=false|author=Master of the Queen Mary Psalter|year=c.1310|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1999.125