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Illuminated Psalter

late 1100s
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 300
Psalters were among the most popular religious texts of the Middle Ages. Used by all Christian communities during the liturgy, they contained the psalms and, in the Orthodox world, also the Odes and the Magnificat of the Virgin. As essential books of daily devotion, prayer, and literacy, they also served as primers for teaching people to read—in medieval Latin, psalteratus, meaning one who had learned the psalter, was synonymous with being literate. Psalters were among the most widely copied manuscripts in the Byzantine and medieval world, used for both private devotion and liturgical worship.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Illuminated Psalter
  • Date: late 1100s
  • Culture: Byzantine
  • Medium: Tempera, black ink and gold on parchment
  • Dimensions: 8 1/8 x 5 7/8 x 2 in. (20.7 x 14.9 x 5.1 cm)
    Other (Single MS leaf): 7 11/16 x 5 13/16 in. (19.5 x 14.7 cm)
  • Classification: Manuscripts and Illuminations
  • Credit Line: Purchase, The Jaharis Family Foundation Inc. Gift, 2001
  • Object Number: 2001.730
  • Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters

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