Leaf Excised from a Psalter: The Nativity (c. 1260): Art, History and Details

Leaf Excised from a Psalter: The Nativity (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 manuscript psalters were designated by decorated initials or, as is the case here, full-page miniatures. These locations marked 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, possibly a cleric.

Object facts

• Title: Leaf Excised from a Psalter: The Nativity
• Date: c. 1260
• Culture: Flanders, Liège(?), 13th century
• Type: Manuscript
• Technique: tempera and burnished gold on vellum
• Dimensions: Sheet: 12.5 x 8.6 cm (4 15/16 x 3 3/8 in.)
• Collection: MED - Manuscript Illuminations
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1953.145.5

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

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.