The Utrecht Psalter
Produced in France in the Benedictine Abbey of Hautvillers, near Reims, ca. 820–35
Utrecht, Rijksuniversiteit Bibliotheek, Hs. 32
The Utrecht Psalter (Utrecht, University Library, MS 32), generally regarded as the masterpiece of Carolingian book production, was written and illustrated in the Benedictine monastery of Hautvillers, near Rheims, around 820–835. The Latin text of the psalms is written in three columns and is in the so-called Gallicanum version, the text of the Vulgate. The manuscript led a nomadic life for around 900 years before arriving in Utrecht in 1716 and being incorporated into the University Library. During its wanderings, this famous manuscript turned up in Christ Church, Canterbury, around 1000, where it remained for at least two centuries. There, artists copied its cycle of images into three different Psalter manuscripts.
For more information on the Utrecht Psalter, visit the digital facsimile from the University of Utrecht Libraries (Internet Explorer only)
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Open to fols. 14v–15r, with word illustrations for Psalms 25 (verso): Salvum me fac, Domine, quoniam defecit sanctus—the two groups of revolving figures in the lower foreground exemplify verse 9: “The wicked walk round about,” and the figures around a forge at upper right, represent verse 7: “The words of the Lord are pure words as silver tried by the fire, purged from the earth, refined seven times;” and Psalm 26 (recto): Usquequo, Domine, oblivisceris me in finem—note especially the Lord hurling light beams at the face of the figure seated against a tree, illustrating verse 4: “Enlighten my eyes that I never sleep in death.”
Image of fol. 82v, containing the text and illustration of Psalm 148.
Image of fol. 83r, containing the text and illustration of Psalm 149. At the bottom of the page is the illustration for Psalm 150, the text of which follows on the next page.
Facsimile: Utrecht-Psalter: Vollständige Faksimile-Ausgabe im Originalformat der Handschrift 32, aus dem Besitz der Bibliotheek der Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht, ed. Koert van der Horst, Codices selecti phototypice impressi, 75 (Graz: Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1984)
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