Psalterium
F-hji8
Note from Otto Ege: This small Psalter leaf illustrates the fact that, although skilled scribes were available in many monasteries in the 13th century, some of the monks who attempted to apply and burnish the gold leaf were still struggling with many problems of illumination. The famous treatise De Arte Illuminadi and Cennino Cennini's Trattato were both of later date. These works gave directions on how to prepare and use the glair of egg, Armenian bole, stag-horn glue, and hare's foot, and on how to burnish the gold with a suitable wolf's tooth. These books might not have been too helpful, however, for the author of the De arte Illuminandi adds, "Since experience is worth more in all this than written documents, I am not taking any special pains to explain what I mean."
General Information
Angular Gothic Script
Original Condition
The vellum is yellowed, hard, thick, and stiff, and the decoration and illuminated letters are not great, particularly the ones in gold. Some are crooked and even have a black outline where the gold is faded.
Current Condition
When manuscript leaf was cut it cropped part of the illuminated letter with it.
Book Decoration and Musical Notation
The ink used in the text is brown, with light coral red, blue, and white for the decoration, as well as gold leaf. One 14-line (62 mm) decorated initial. The cropped initial is measuring at 107 mm in height.