Leaf Excised from a Psalter: Initial B with King David (c. 1260): Art, History and Details

Leaf Excised from a Psalter: Initial B with King David (c. 1260) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

Traditional locations within the texts of manuscript psalters were marked by decorated initials or full-page miniatures. These miniatures designated the major divisions of the psalms as used in the daily office. The extraordinary quality of these miniatures suggests they once decorated a deluxe psalter made for a wealthy or aristocratic patron.

Object facts

• Title: Leaf Excised from a Psalter: Initial B with King David
• Date: c. 1260
• Culture: Flanders, Liège(?), 13th century
• Type: Manuscript
• Technique: tempera and gold on vellum
• Dimensions: Sheet: 13 x 8.9 cm (5 1/8 x 3 1/2 in.)
• Collection: MED - Manuscript Illuminations
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1953.145.1

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• George, Philippe. Art et Patrimoine en Wallonie des Origines à 1789: Essai de Synthèse à la Lumière des Collections Américaines et Européennes. Namur: Institut du Patrimoine Wallon, 2017.

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.