Anonymous: The Fécamp Psalter, folio 28v&29r (1173 - 1223)

(Royal Library of the Netherlands, The Hague, The Netherlands)

Two miniatures made by unknown 12th/13th century French artists. These two pages come from the Fécamp Psalter. the book is named after the abby of Fécamp where the book was probably made. A Psalter is a book with the Book of Psalms and usually some other devotional material such as a liturgical calendar and the litany of the Saints. This version contains a liturgical calendar, several miniatures of the life of Christ and 150 psalms. These two pages form the start of the section of the psalms. The left page shows a kneeling woman with folded hands. This is the donor of the book. Generally it is assumed that she is Eleanor of Aquitaine (1124-1204), Duchess of Aquitaine, queen consort of France (as wife of king Louis VII of France) and Queen consort of England (as wife of king Henry II of England - she is the mother of king Richard I the Lionheart). On the right is the opening of the psalm 1: "Beatus vir qui non abiit in consilio impiorum, et in via peccatorum non stetit, et in cathedra pestilentiae non sedit" (= "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers). In the capital B are two pictures: at the top king David of Israel playing on his harp (David supposedly was the author of the book of Psalms) and at the bottom David and Goliath (from 1 Samuel 17). Page from 1173-1223.