Initial "B" (eatus Vir) from a Choir Psalter (c. 1430–1450): Art, History and Details

Initial "B" (eatus Vir) from a Choir Psalter (c. 1430–1450) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Master of the 'Vitae Imperatorum' (Italian).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This initial B, introducing the first psalm, Beatus vir, represents King David who is shown here playing a psaltery, a stringed instrument consisting of a shallow box that is plucked, instead of his more traditional harp. The psaltery was widely popular in Europe during the 14th and 15th centuries. The illuminator of this striking initial is named after his earliest dated work, an illuminated volume of Suetonius’s Vitae Imperatorum (Lives of the Emperors), which he decorated in 1431 for Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan (1412–1447). He is noteworthy for his distinctive use of line and color.

Object facts

• Title: Initial "B" (eatus Vir) from a Choir Psalter
• Date: c. 1430–1450
• Creator attribution: Master of the 'Vitae Imperatorum' (Italian)
• Culture: Italy
• Type: Manuscript
• Technique: ink, tempera and gold leaf on vellum
• Dimensions: Leaf: 19.7 x 19.1 cm (7 3/4 x 7 1/2 in.)
• Collection: MED - Manuscript Illuminations
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 2011.50

Collection credit

Bequest of Dr. Paul J. Vignos Jr.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.