Illuminated Psalter

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Literacy was highly prized in Byzantine state, with its sophisticated secular and clerical elite proving to be enthusiatic patrons of the book arts. This manuscript, one of the approximately fifty so-called aristocratic psalters that survive from the Middle Byzantine era, demonstrates the high quality of that period's book production. The text is elegantly written in gold letters on parchment, with vibrantly colored illuminations set against gilded grounds at selected readings. The iconlike illiminations assist in making the Old Testament text relevant for Christian use. Thus, God, to whom the Psalms are dedicated, is depicted as Christ Pantokrator at the center of elaborate headpiece over the introductory text (illustrated above). The illuminator has painted the face of Christ, the "world ruler" (pantokrator), in the finest Byzantine tradition, layering flesh tones and facial details over a green base color meant to represent shadows. The pairs of birds over the headpiece and in the ornate incipit letter of the text extend the Christian reference by evoking the dual nature of Christ--equally man and god. Psalters were popular throughout the medieval Christian world, in both the East and West, for prayers during the liturgy in churches and monasteries, as weapons against demons, and as the primary texts for learning to read.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world. Displayed in both The Met Fifth Avenue and in the Museum's branch in northern Manhattan, The Met Cloisters, the collection encompasses the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome in the fourth century to the beginning of the Renaissance in the early sixteenth century. It also includes pre-medieval European works of art created during the Bronze Age and early Iron Age.

Metropolitan Museum of Art