The Macclesfield Master
Artists
The Macclesfield Master designed the overall decorative programme and supplied most of the pictorial contents. Figures displaying a range of emotions and convincing depictions of the human body are characteristic of his style. He painted the full-page miniatures of St Edmund of Bury and St Andrew; an image of Christ as Judge; all but one of the historiated initials; most of the busts and profiles inside other Psalm initials; most of the borders (including figural decoration) and almost all of the bas-de-page scenes.
Historiated initial D: King David, a fool, and two men conversing (Psalm 52)
The initial, which has sustained damage to the painted surface, extends into a full bar border incorporating human heads within medallions, a hunter with a hawk and a musician playing a citole. A farmer ploughs with a pair of horses in the bas-de-page. The ploughing scene, a stock motif, is found in several contemporary English Psalters.