Macclesfield Psalter
Encyclopedia
Illuminated manuscript
An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations...
from the English region of East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
, written in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
and produced around 1330. The psalter
Psalter
A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the later medieval emergence of the book of hours, psalters were the books most widely owned by wealthy lay persons and were...
, or book of Psalms
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
, contains 252 beautifully illustrated pages and is named after its most recent owner, the Earl of Macclesfield
Earl of Macclesfield
Earl of Macclesfield is a title that has been created twice. The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1679 in favour of the soldier and politician Charles Gerard, 1st Baron Gerard...
.
Having rested unrecognised on the shelves of Shirburn Castle
Shirburn Castle
Shirburn Castle is at the village of Shirburn, south of Thame, Oxfordshire.Shirburn Castle was the seat of the Earls of Macclesfield. George Parker, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield , celebrated as an astronomer, spent much time conducting astronomical observations at Shirburn Castle, which his father...
for several centuries, finally revealed when the library was catalogued for sale, the Macclesfield Psalter was put up for auction at Sotheby's
Sotheby's
Sotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...
in 2004. Cambridge University's
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
Fitzwilliam Museum
Fitzwilliam Museum
The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge, located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge, England. It receives around 300,000 visitors annually. Admission is free....
attempted to purchase the Psalter, but the initial bid was won by the Getty Museum of Malibu, California, for £1.7 million. The Psalter subsequently became a cause célèbre as, under British law, the American museum had to gain permission to export the Psalter. The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art
Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art
The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest is a committee of the United Kingdom government, advising the Department of Culture, Media and Sport on the export of cultural property...
gave the Psalter a starred rating and a temporary export bar was placed on the Psalter until February 10, 2005. In response, the Fitzwilliam Museum, assisted by an £860 000 contribution from the UK Government's National Heritage Memorial Fund
National Heritage Memorial Fund
The National Heritage Memorial Fund is a non-departmental public body set up under the National Heritage Act 1980 in memory of people who gave their lives for the United Kingdom....
raised the £1.7 million necessary to buy the Psalter (noted for its gaudy, vivid images and its coarse Pythonesque
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
humour) in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The Psalter is now owned by the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, it is not currently on display as it is being restored.
Like other luxury psalters, the Macclesfield Psalter was likely intended for private reading instead of public use in church. It is thought to be by the same scribe as two other psalters from the so-called East Anglian group, the Stowe Breviary
Stowe Breviary
The Stowe Breviary is an early-fourteenth-century illuminated manuscript Breviary from England, providing the divine office according to the Sarum ordinal and calendar ....
and the Douai Psalter
Douai Psalter
The Douai Psalter was an East Anglian illuminated manuscript, destroyed during World War I...
.
Miniature (illuminated manuscript)
The word miniature, derived from the Latin minium, red lead, is a picture in an ancient or medieval illuminated manuscript; the simple decoration of the early codices having been miniated or delineated with that pigment...
at the start, and throughout the book each new verse begins with a small gilded
Gilding
The term gilding covers a number of decorative techniques for applying fine gold leaf or powder to solid surfaces such as wood, stone, or metal to give a thin coating of gold. A gilded object is described as "gilt"...
initial
Initial
In a written or published work, an initial is a letter at the beginning of a work, a chapter, or a paragraph that is larger than the rest of the text. The word is derived from the Latin initialis, which means standing at the beginning...
against an ornate background of rose and pink. The initials at the traditional major divisions of the Psalms take up most of the page, and as is usual, the B of "Beatus vir ...", the start of Psalm 1, has the largest of all, a magnificent Jesse Tree. The main initials show religious scenes, either from the life of King David or events from the life of Christ that the Psalms were believed to pre-figure. The smaller initials contain various images, including kings, queens, peasants, and bishops. The margins of many pages are heavily decorated with abstract designs that constantly sprout into plant shapes, and contain many small "marginal grotesques" of no obvious religious relevance.
The Psalter abounds in images of grotesque
Grotesque
The word grotesque comes from the same Latin root as "Grotto", meaning a small cave or hollow. The original meaning was restricted to an extravagant style of Ancient Roman decorative art rediscovered and then copied in Rome at the end of the 15th century...
s and drolleries
Drolleries
Drolleries , often called a "grotesque", are decorative thumbnail images in the margins of Illuminated manuscripts, most popular from about 1250 through the 15th century, although found earlier and later...
that today are considered humorous. These images include grotesques with faces on their bottoms, three-headed monsters with hairy noses, a dog in a bishop's costume, an ape doctor giving a false diagnosis to a bear patient, rabbits jousting and riding hounds and a giant skate terrorising a man.
The original patron of the Psalter is unknown, as it appears that a coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
has been cut from the pages in various places throughout the Psalter. It is thought that the original owner could possibly have been John de Warenne, 7th Earl of Surrey
John de Warenne, 7th Earl of Surrey
John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey was a prominent English nobleman and military commander during the reigns of Henry III of England and Edward I of England. During the Second Barons' War he switched sides twice, ending up in support of the king, for whose capture he was present at Lewes in 1264...
, the possible patron of the Gorleston Psalter. The Psalter also contains an image of a Dominican friar, who may have been the owner's confessor and may also have been involved in the production of the psalter.
External links
- The Art Fund Macclesfield Psalter Campaign — reviews the campaign to preserve the Psalter for the UK and the Psalter's importance
- the Macclesfield Psalter Virtual Exhibition — official Fitzwilliam Museum website