The Painter of Additional 15677
Artists
Most of the large miniatures and historiated initials were illuminated by an artist named the Painter of Additional 15677 after another Book of Hours (London, BL, Add. MS 15677). He was a competent and prolific professional. His figures, though stiff and puppet-like, with stereotypical faces, are well proportioned. His modelling is conventional, but he created pleasing sequences of shadowed passages and shell gold highlights. Although his colour scheme and method of painting are no match for the luminous palettes and sophisticated techniques of the other three artists, he reused creatively a wide range of designs circulating among them and other contemporaries. He painted the Calendar’s historiated borders with admirable topicality and the architectural borders throughout the volume with convincing perspective.
Penitent David (Penitential Psalms)
The Painter of Additional 15677 provided the large miniature of David in penitence, but one of his associates completed the historiated border which shows Bathsheba’s husband Uriah marching into battle on David’s orders. The seven Penitential Psalms were recited to avoid the seven deadly sins: pride, avarice, lust, envy, gluttony, anger and sloth. Lust is the sin implied here – the sin for which David repents.