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 and a fool striding (Psalm 52)
David prays to God in the upper part of the initial D. Below, a half-naked fool wields a club and eats a cake. A standard image for Psalm 52 in 13th-century French Psalters and Bibles, the fool illustrates the Psalm’s opening verse, written in gold on the right and continuing beneath the image, Dixit insipiens in corde suo non est deus (‘The fool said in his heart: there is no God’). The initial was painted by Hand B.