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medieval imaginations:
literature and visual culture in the middle ages



picture data:

medium:
date: 14th century
episodes: All
owner/location: Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, Cambridge
catalogue information: Macclesfield Psalter 22
related images: 636  637  638  639  642  643  644  645  646  647  648  649  650  651  652  653  654  655  657  658  659 

Borders and Margins

Image 656 (This image by courtesy of Sotheby's) From the recently rediscovered Macclesfield Psalter (c.1320-30), probably from Gorleston, Norfolk, and closely related to the Gorleston Psalter. This is a leaf from the middle of Psalm 118, which is divided into sections identified by the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Halfway down the left border the illuminated letter 'Q', containing a woman's crowned head, marks the beginning of the section designated Mem, which starts at verse 97, 'O how I love thy law! it is my meditation all the day'. The border broadens at the bottom to provide a background for a contortionist, a man in an orange garment who supports his weight with his hands on the tendrils of the border while lifting his feet to rest on his head. He is poking out his tongue at the viewer, giving him an appearance similar to some contemporary gargoyles.

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further reading:
Binski, Paul, and Panayotova, Stella, The Cambridge Illuminations: Ten Centuries of Book Production in the Medieval West, London 2005
Panayotova, Stella, The Macclesfield Psalter, Cambridge 2005