Western Manuscripts and Miniatures

Produced in France but shaped by English stylistic influence, this leaf exemplifies the opulence and cross-regional artistry of the mid-thirteenth century.

235 × 170 mm. Single leaf ruled in brown ink and written below the top line for single column of twenty-one lines, inscribed in pencil with modern stock number “8826” on verso, line-fillers alternating between gold and red or blue penwork, and occasionally in form of fish, verses marked by one-line initials alternating in gold with blue penwork or blue with red penwork, one three-line initial ‘M’ begins Psalms 131, executed in gold with predominantly blue penwork, ONE INHABITED INITIAL ‘O’ of three lines with dense blue and red penwork highlighted with white filigree on gold ground inhabited by a dragon. Some flaking to gold leaf revealing the underlying pink bole, else in good condition.
 
From a Psalter that was clearly produced as a deluxe commission, this leaf bears two richly embellished initials that form the incipits from Psalm 130 (Domine non est exaltatum cor meum...) and 131 (Memento Domine David et omnis mansuetudinis eius…). The text is written in a high-grade Gothic script—although with some unevenness in execution—and features an extraordinary level of decoration surpassing standard Psalter conventions. While many Psalters include one-line initials for verses and one-line initials for psalms, this leaf and its known sister leaves embellish every psalm initial, alternating verse initials and line-fillers with burnished gold, imparting a dazzling visual richness. The psalm initials are three lines high, and the major psalter divisions are marked by near full-page decoration, further underscoring the manuscript’s luxury status.
 
Originally dated to around 1200, the parent manuscript is now more accurately placed in the second half of the thirteenth century. The script, written below the top line, and the use of ink for ruling suggest a date post-1220, likely after 1250 when pen-flourished initials extending deep into the margins became standard. Patricia Stirnemann has observed stylistic affinities with English Psalters of the mid-thirteenth century—particularly the Evesham, Oscott, York, and Rutland Psalters—suggesting that the artist may have been influenced by northern English models. Yet the omission of Psalms 51 and 101 as major divisions, atypical in English usage, argues against an English origin. As is often the case in medieval manuscript production, cross-regional influence and artistic mobility complicate attributions. In this instance, the manuscript was likely produced in France but shaped by English stylistic currents—an exquisite example of transnational Gothic illumination and a compelling artifact of devotional and artistic exchange.

Provenance
(1) Parent volume inscribed “Ex-libris de Maitre avocat Aubery(r), procureur-général, 1828.”
Offered by Ferrini and Les Enluminures, 2000, no. 14; the volume was broken by July 2002.

(2) Robert McCarthy, London, MS BM 1388.

Parent manuscript and sister leaves
This leaf comes from an imperfect Psalter of 103 leaves, offered by Bruce Ferrini and Les Enluminures in 2000. The parent volume contained four very large illuminated initials and forty-one painted initials, fifteen of which included animals—such as the present example featuring a lion. The manuscript was missing several quires at both the beginning and end, as well as a few individual leaves from the middle. Numerous excised leaves have surfaced at auction and in institutional collections. A leaf foliated “96” and containing Psalms 127 and 128 is now in the Museum of Art and Archaeology at the University of Missouri–Columbia. Five additional sister leaves are preserved in the McCarthy Collection.

LITERATURE
Bruce Ferrini and Les Enluminures, Important Illuminated Manuscripts, Akron; Paris, 2000, no. 14 (“Northeastern France or Paris, c. 1200–1210; completed c. 1250”); Peter Kidd, The McCarthy Collection: French Miniatures, London, 2021, no. 33.

We are grateful to Peter Kidd for permission to quote from his catalogue for this entry, and we thank Senior Consultant Sandra Hindman and Peter Bovenmyer for their assistance in preparing this sale.

The Robert McCarthy Collection