Synopses & Reviews
The Ormesby Psalter is one of the most well-known yet mysterious manuscripts to survive the Middle Ages. Commissioned in the late thirteenth century to celebrate a marriage that never took place, this exquisite book of psalms—likely meant for private devotion by its wealthy patrons—was left unfinished.
Having housed this enigmatic masterpiece for hundreds of years, Oxford's Bodleian Library has now opened it up to the public at large for the first time. Manuscript expert Frederica Law-Turner places the psalter within a wider historical context and then deciphers its lush illuminations—scenes that vary wildly in tone from the comic to the bawdy to the mythic. Full-color photographs illustrate the text's unusual characters: falcons and hunting dogs at bay, kings and courtesans, and other animals dressed in human garb. Created over a period of decades by previously unrecognized scribes and artists, the Ormesby Psalter is an exceptional amalgam of medieval art and history. For scholars of medieval life, as well as art historians, this new study will be an invaluable resource.
Synopsis
The Ormesby Psalter is one of the most well-known yet mysterious manuscripts to survive the Middle Ages. It was made in a series of campaigns over many decades, starting in the late-thirteenth century, and the main decorated pages were executed in the 1310s for a marriage that never took place. Likely meant for private devotion by its wealthy patrons, this exquisite book of psalms was left unfinished.
Housed in Oxford's Bodleian Library for over 150 years, this enigmatic masterpiece is perhaps the most magnificent yet enigmatic of the great Gothic psalters produced in East Anglia in the first half of the fourteenth century. Manuscript expert Frederica C. E. Law-Turner places the psalter within a wider historical context and then deciphers its lush illuminations--scenes that vary wildly in tone from the comic to the bawdy to the mythic. Full-color photographs illustrate the text's many characters: falcons and hunting dogs at bay, kings and courtesans, and other animals dressed in human garb. Created over a period of decades by previously unrecognized scribes and artists, the Ormesby Psalter is an exceptional amalgam of medieval art and history. For scholars of medieval life, as well as art historians, this new study will be an invaluable resource.
About the Author
Frederica C. E. Law-Turner specializes in illuminated manuscripts and held a post-doctoral fellowship from the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art in 1999. Since then, she has been an expert in Sothebys Department of Western Manuscripts and worked as a freelance critic and lecturer.