Collection ID: 0023 | Metadata type: TEI | TEI XML | Data

Title

Psalter-Hours

Other related names

• de Foix, Constance, wife of Jean de Lévis, Seigneur de Mirepoix, former owner
• de Lévis, Isabelle, daughter of Constance de Foix, former owner
• Mielzynski, Max, former owner
• Widener, Joseph E. (Joseph Early), 1872-1943, former owner (http://viaf.org/viaf/21158694)

Funders

• Council on Library and Information Resources

Call number

Widener 9
(Philadelphia, United States, Free Library of Philadelphia, Widener Collection)

Alternate identifiers

• https://know.freelibrary.org/Record/1466041
• deRicci: 9
• Leaves-of-gold: 11

Publisher

Free Library of Philadelphia

Language

Latin; Middle French (ca. 1400-1600)

Origin

Place

Amiens?, France

Summary

This manuscript is a thirteenth century Psalter-Hours made in northern France, likely Amiens. It features twelve full-page miniatures constituting a prefatory cycle of the life of Christ, in addition to seventeen historiated initials. The prefatory cycle (fols. 1v-12r) comprises two miniatures per page. At least one bifolium containing illustrations of the culmination of Christ's Passion is missing. The calendar (fols. 13r-18v) is decorated with two roundels per page showing the Sign of the Zodiac and Labor of the Month respectively. The Psalter and canticles (fols. 19v-195r) are illustrated with historiated initials. The litany (fols. 195v-199v) is illustrated with a historiated initial showing a Procession of relics (fol. 195v). The Office of the Dead (fols. 200r-206r) begins with an initial showing a funeral bier in a church (fol. 200r). The Hours of the Virgin (fols. 208r-234v) contains eight historiated initials showing the canonical iconographies for this cycle. The Penitential Psalms (fols. 235r-242r) are introduced with an historiated initial showing David at an altar, with God raising his hand in blessing (fol. 235r). The illuminations have been attributed to two artists; the illuminator of the prefatory cycle and psalter illuminated another psalter formerly in the collection of the Comte de Boisrouvray as well as a manuscript of Chretien de Troyes's work held at Princeton University, Garrett 125, and MS W. 86 held at the Walters Art Museum. Two other manuscripts are attributed to the Psalter-Hours's second artist: Le Mans, BM, MS 354, and Paris, BnF, MS Fr. 342.

Notes

• Tight binding; loss of gold leaf in some miniatures
   
• The hands of two artists have been determined; the artist of the prefatory cycle and psalter also illuminated a psalter in the collection of the Comte de Boisrouvray (Sold at auction Sotheby's, London, July 6, 2000, lot 77), as well as a manuscript of Chretien de Troyes in Princeton, University Library, Garrett 125, and a book of hours in Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum, W. 86; two other manuscripts have been attributed to the second artist: Le Mans, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 354, and Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS fr. 342
   

Extent

I+242+i; 185 x 125 mm bound to 190 x 130 mm

Foliation

Sporadic modern foliation in pencil, upper or lower right recto; foliation appearing from fol. 199 to the end is one less than the true leaf count

Collation

1-3 (4), 4 (6), 5 (12, -12), 6-18 (8), 19 (10), 20-31 (8), 32 (4, -1)

Signatures

Quires 6-29 signed in modern ink, lower left (gutter) first recto

Support

Parchment

Binding

Late sixteenth-century, French brown morocco fanfare

Layout

One column of twenty lines; frame-ruled in lead with double horizontal bounding lines; significantly trimmed edges; written area: 120 x 80 mm

Decoration

Thirteen full-page miniatures; seventeen historiated initials with framing bars, some inhabited; twenty-four calendar roundels of the Labors of the Months and the signs of the zodiac; illuminated initials and line-fillers throughout

Script

Gothic--textualis semi-quadrata

Provenance

• Constance de Foix, wife of Jean de Lévis, Seigneur de Mirepoix, 1332 (obit recorded in calendar for 3 March, fol. 14r); Isabelle de Lévis, daughter of Constance de Foix and dame de la Tour d'Auvergne, 1361 (obit recorded in calendar for 4 April, fol. 14v); count Mielzynski of Pawlowice Castle, Poland ("Pawlowice 1846" inscribed on front cover); Count Max Mielzynski; P. A. B. Widener, Philadelphia (Ex libris of P. A. B. Widener on verso of front flyleaf, fol. i); Joseph E. Widener, Philadelphia, 1915; given by his children, Josephine Widener Wichfeld and Peter A. B. Widener, to the Free Library of Philadelphia in 1944, in memory of their father
   

Related resources

• De Ricci, Seymour, with the assistance of W. J. Wilson, Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada, vol. 2 (New York,: H. W. Wilson, 1935-40), p. 2117, no. 9.
• Haseloff, Günther, Die Psalterillustration im 13. Jahrhundert: Studien zur Geschichte der Buchmalerei in England, Frankreich und den Niederlanden (Kiel, 1938), pp. 54 ff., 114-215.
• The Walters Art Gallery, Illuminated Books of the Middle Ages and Renaissance: An Exhibition Held at the Baltimore Museum of Art, January 27-March 13 (Baltimore: Trustees of the Walters Art Gallery, 1949), p. 22, no. 54, pl. 28c.
• Stones, Alison, "Aspects of Arthur's Death in Medieval Illumination," in The Passing of Arthur: New Essays in Arthurian Tradition, ed. Christopher Baswell and William Sharpe (New York: Garland, 1988), p. 81, n. 32 (article pp. 52-101).
• Oliver, Judith H., Gothic Manuscript Illumination in the Diocese of Liége, c. 1250-c.1330, Corpus of Illuminated Manuscripts from the Low Countries, vol. 2 (Leuven: Uitgeverij Peeters, 1988), vol. 1, p. 76, n. 66, p. 150, n. 121.
• Free Library of Philadelphia, Saints, Scribes, and Scholars: An Exhibition of Illuminated Manuscripts and Early Printed Books from the Collections of the Rare Book Department of the Free Library of Philadelphia, Compiled by Satoko I. Parker, Walter A. Frankel, and Marie E. Korey (Philadelphia: The Free Library of Philadelphia, 1988), pp. 7-8, illus. facing p. 7.
• Stones, Alison, "The Illustrated Chrétien Manuscripts and Their Artistic Context," in The Manuscripts of Chrétien de Troyes, ed. Keith Busby et al. (Amsterdam and Atlanta, Ga.: Rodopi, 1993), vol. 1, pp. 251-252, figs. 73-76.
• Philadelphia Museum of Art, Leaves of Gold: Manuscript Illumination from Philadelphia Collections, edited by James R. Tanis (Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2001), pp. 54-56, no. 11.
• Hourihane, Colum, ed., Time in the Medieval World: Occupations of the Months & Signs of the Zodiac in the Index of Christian Art (Princeton: Index of Christian Art and The Dept. of Art & Archaeology, Princeton University, 2007), pp. 65, 76, 92, 128, 183, 232, 282, 314.

Keywords

• Psalter-Hours
• 13th century
• French
• Illumination
• France
• Devotion
• Notable binding

Licenses

• Text

  These images and the content of Free Library of Philadelphia Widener 9: Psalter-Hours are free of known copyright restrictions and in the public domain. See the Creative Commons Public Domain Mark page for usage details, http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/.

  URL

  http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

• Text

  To the extent possible under law, Free Library of Philadelphia, Special Collections has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this metadata about Free Library of Philadelphia Widener 9: Psalter-Hours. This work is published from: United States. For a summary of CC0, see https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/. Legal code: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode.

  URL

  https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode

Table of contents

• Inside front cover — Ownership note, "Pawlowice 1846"
• fol. 1v — Prefatory cycle with scenes from the life of Christ
• fol. 13r — Calendar for Use of Amiens, in French
• fol. 19v — Psalter with Canticles
• fol. 195v — Litany followed by the Office of the Dead
• fol. 208r — Hours of the Virgin followed by Penitential Psalms

Decorations

• Flyleaf 1 verso — Bookplate, Joseph Widener
• fol. 1v — Small miniature, Annunciation
• fol. 1v — Small miniature, Nativity
• fol. 2r — Small miniature, Annunciation to the Shepherds
• fol. 2r — Small miniature, Epiphany
• fol. 3v — Small miniature, Presentation at the Temple
• fol. 3v — Small miniature, Massacre of the Innocents
• fol. 4r — Small miniature, Flight into Egypt
• fol. 4r — Small miniature, Temptation of Christ
• fol. 5v — Small miniature, Baptism of Christ
• fol. 5v — Small miniature, Marriage at Cana
• fol. 6r — Small miniature, Calling of Peter and Andrew
• fol. 6r — Small miniature, Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
• fol. 7v — Small miniature, Anointing of Jesus
• fol. 7v — Small miniature, Washing of the Feet
• fol. 8r — Small miniature, Judas Receiving Silver
• fol. 8r — Small miniature, Judas Returning Silver
• fol. 9v — Small miniature, Arrest of Christ
• fol. 9v — Small miniature, Pilate Washes His Hands
• fol. 10r — Small miniature, Mocking of Christ
• fol. 10r — Small miniature, Flagellation
• fol. 11v — Small miniature, Christ Harrows of Hell
• fol. 11v — Small miniature, Ascension
• fol. 12r — Small miniature, Pentecost
• fol. 12r — Small miniature, Trinity
• fol. 13r — Small roundel, Labor of the Month, Feasting
• fol. 13r — Small roundel, Zodiac, Aquarius
• fol. 13v — Small roundel, Labor of the Month, Warming by the Fire
• fol. 13v — Small roundel, Zodiac, Pisces
• fol. 14r — Small roundel, Labor of the Month, Digging
• fol. 14r — Small roundel, Zodiac, Aries
• fol. 14v — Small roundel, Labor of the Month, Celebrating the Arrival of Spring
• fol. 14v — Small roundel, Zodiac, Taurus
• fol. 15r — Small roundel, Labor of the Month, Hunting
• fol. 15r — Small roundel, Zodiac, Gemini
• fol. 15v — Small roundel, Labor of the Month, Hay Harvest
• fol. 15v — Small roundel, Zodiac, Cancer
• fol. 16r — Small roundel, Labor of the Month, Grain Harvest
• fol. 16r — Small roundel, Zodiac, Leo
• fol. 16v — Small roundel, Labor of the Month, Wheat Threshing
• fol. 16v — Small roundel, Zodiac, Virgo
• fol. 17r — Small roundel, Labor of the Month, Grape Harvest
• fol. 17r — Small roundel, Zodiac, Libra
• fol. 17v — Small roundel, Labor of the Month, Sowing
• fol. 17v — Small roundel, Zodiac, Scorpio
• fol. 18r — Small roundel, Labor of the Month, Gathering Acorns
• fol. 18r — Small roundel, Zodiac, Sagittarius
• fol. 18v — Small roundel, Labor of the Month, Slaughter of Pigs
• fol. 18v — Small roundel, Zodiac, Capricorn
• fol. 19v — Large historiated initial B, David Playing the Harp, above, and David Defeating Goliath, below
• fol. 19v — Drollery, archer with rabbit and birds
• fol. 19v — Illuminated extensions
• fol. 43v — Historiated initial D, David pointing to his eye and looking to God in the sky
• fol. 59r — Historiated initial D, David admonishing the Devil and pointing to his mouth, with God above
• fol. 72r — Historiated initial Q, David with Doeg killing Ahimelech
• fol. 73r — Historiated initial D, David and the Fool
• fol. 87v — Historiated initial S, David in the Watery Deep, below, and God blessing, above
• fol. 106r — Historiated initial E, David playing bells
• fol. 123v — Historiated initial A, Three clerics singing from a choir book
• fol. 144r — Historiated initial D, Trinity
• fol. 179v — Illuminated initial C
• fol. 195v — Historiated initial K, Procession of relics, with drollery and rabbit
• fol. 200r — Historiated initial P, Funeral bier in a church
• fol. 208r — Historiated initial D, Virgin and Child
• fol. 208r — Illuminated border with drollery fighting a beast and nude man with tail
• fol. 213v — Historiated initial D, Annunciation
• fol. 213v — Illuminated frame with drollery
• fol. 219v — Historiated initial D, Nativity
• fol. 219v — Illuminated frame with drollery
• fol. 222v — Historiated initial D, Annunciation to the Shepherds
• fol. 222v — Illuminated frame
• fol. 224v — Historiated initial D, Adoration of the Magi
• fol. 224v — Illuminated frame with drollery and bird
• fol. 226v — Historiated initial D, Presentation in the Temple
• fol. 226v — Illuminated frame with drollery
• fol. 228v — Historiated initial D, Dormition of the Virgin
• fol. 228v — Illuminated frame
• fol. 232v — Historiated initial C, Coronation of the Virgin
• fol. 232v — Illuminated frame with drollery
• fol. 235r — Historiated initial D, King David in Prayer
• fol. 235r — Illuminated frame with drollery
• Flyleaf 1 verso — Bookplate, Joseph Widener