Ian Ehling
Head of Department
Lot 19
ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT: PSALM 69. Being a single leaf from a manuscript Bible in Latin, Psalm 69. France: C.1270.
11 December 2020, 10:00 EST
New YorkSold for US$1,530 inc. premium
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ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT: PSALM 69.
Being a single leaf from a manuscript Bible in Latin, Psalm 69. France: C.1270.
8vo (194 x 140 mm), double column text, 37 lines in gothic book hand, 71 one-line initials in blue or red, two two-line initials in blue or red with contrasting penwork infill and extensions, one eight-line "I" with penwork extensions running the length of the text and extending into the margins, and a large seven-line historiated "S" showing King David and God in mauve on a blue background, with a 19-line ascender featuring a human-animal grotesque, and with a descender extending well into the lower margin, both in blue, mauve, and white, and embellished with dots of gold. Four small losses of the background paint of the initial, text faint.
The scene here illustrates the opening line of Psalm 69, in which David pleads for God's salvation: "Save me, O God: for the waters have come in even unto my soul. I stick fast in the mire of the deep and there is no sure standing. I have come into the depth of the sea, and a tempest has overwhelmed me." The lower half of the miniature depicts David in the sea, raising his arms to God in prayer for salvation, the upper half showing God with his right hand upraised in blessing, his left holding a golden orb.
8vo (194 x 140 mm), double column text, 37 lines in gothic book hand, 71 one-line initials in blue or red, two two-line initials in blue or red with contrasting penwork infill and extensions, one eight-line "I" with penwork extensions running the length of the text and extending into the margins, and a large seven-line historiated "S" showing King David and God in mauve on a blue background, with a 19-line ascender featuring a human-animal grotesque, and with a descender extending well into the lower margin, both in blue, mauve, and white, and embellished with dots of gold. Four small losses of the background paint of the initial, text faint.
The scene here illustrates the opening line of Psalm 69, in which David pleads for God's salvation: "Save me, O God: for the waters have come in even unto my soul. I stick fast in the mire of the deep and there is no sure standing. I have come into the depth of the sea, and a tempest has overwhelmed me." The lower half of the miniature depicts David in the sea, raising his arms to God in prayer for salvation, the upper half showing God with his right hand upraised in blessing, his left holding a golden orb.