Cycle of Old and New Testament Images, Possibly Prefatory Cycle for a Psalter
c. 1250 (bound 2003)
- Medium
- Manuscript with 58 full-page miniatures on parchment, with gothica textualis inscriptions in red (probably post-production addition) and black in French and Latin (only on ff. 9v-10r), ruled in graphite, with 2 (modern) fly leaves upper…
- Classification
- Book
- Dimensions
- Image, average: 12 × 10 cm (4 3/4 × 3 15/16 in.); Sheet: 17 × 12 cm (6 3/4 × 4 3/4 in.)
- Culture
- Northern France
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Prints and Drawings
- Credit line
- Anonymous gift
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
Altogether six miniatures in this small volume chronicle the story of Noah as an exemplar of virtue and trust: on the left, Noah helps his family escape the flood; on the right, a dove with an olive leaf signifies their deliverance. Such full-page miniatures that served as the primary means of relaying the story, without text, also served as reminders of proper and improper behavior. They probably once prefaced a psalter, or book of Psalms, which both lay and religious communities recited on a daily basis.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
