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 B: Tree of Jesse (Psalm 1)
The initial shows Old Testament kings (Christ’s ancestors) and prophets (who foretold his coming) enclosed in medallions within the entwined branches of the ‘tree’ forming the letter B for Beatus (‘Blessed’). Jesse lies at the bottom of the central stem with his son David and grandson Solomon above, and the Virgin Mary and Christ at the top. The Tree of Jesse sums up the genealogy of Christ and the story of human salvation at the beginning of Psalm 1. It encapsulates the meaning of the entire Psalter, which lies in the relationship between David and Christ and between the Old and New Testaments. The initial extends into a full border with a bas-de-page scene of a hybrid musician and a warrior and griffin in combat.