Leaf from a Psalter; Resurrection and Ascension on recto and Christ in Majesty on verso; Germany (Upper Rhine); ca.1250

Leaf with a full-page miniature on each side: on recto (i) Resurrection with Christ stepping from tomb over sleeping soldiers (ii) scene of Ascension of Christ; on verso, Christ in Majesty with Evangelist symbols.

From the collection of William Young Ottley (d.1836); his sale, Sotheby's London, 11-12 May 1838, lot 18. Collection of Nathaniel Philips Simes: his sale, Sotheby's London, 9-13 July 1886, part of lot 1095. Purchased from Charles Fairfax Murray in 1894 as part of a group of cuttings (now Museum nos 799-1894 to 817-1894) for the total sum of £190 10s 10d (this cutting cost £21).
A duplicate number MS.19 was assigned to this object in error and was subsequently cancelled.

Cuttings from the same manuscript in other collections: London, British Library, Add. MS 60630, f. 1, Add. MS 17864A.

Cuttings from the same manuscript, whereabouts unknown: leaf with scenes from the life of Gideon, collection of Sir George Holford at Dorchester House [note by M.R. James in the annotated copy of the 1923 catalogue kept at the V&A stating that this leaf was then part of an album of cuttings]: his sale, Sotheby's London, 12 July 1927, lot 1 (bought by Felix Joubert). Leaf with David playing the harp, William Young Ottley sale, Sotheby's London, 11-12 May 1838, lot 17.

William Ottley (1771-1836) was a major collector of manuscripts and fragments. He declared that he had profited, when in Italy, from the chaos that followed the French invasion of 1796: in fact, he had been collecting there from 1791. There is evidence that Ottley cut up manuscripts that he owned. By 1817, when Dibden's 'Bibliographical Decameron' was published, Ottley's collection of leaves and manuscripts was famous. When sold in 1838, it provided a rich source for English collectors.

Early Italian painters were perhaps Ottley's chief interest; his collection was outstanding in Italian illumination. However, he also collected illumination of other regions.

What kind of manuscript were available on the English market in the 1850s? J.C. Robinson, acquired many pieces of illumination, much of it German or Netherlandish, in Cologne in 1857-8. Foreign sources of supply were significant: the Victorian interest in medieval illumination involved importing large numbers of manuscripts to satisfy the collector.
From 'Vandals and Enthusiasts: Views of Illumination in the Nineteenth Century' by Rowan Watson; Victoria and Albert Museum; 1995

Medieval manuscripts of the psalms were used in liturgical as well as private devotional contexts and often contained ancillary texts such as a calendar, canticles, creeds, a litany of the saints (invocations for deliverance and intercession addressed to the Trinity, the Virgin, angels, apostles, martyrs, confessors, virgins individually and as groups), and prayers. Psalters designed for use in the performance of the divine office often contain other relevant texts, such as the Hours of the Virgin. The Psalter was the principal book for private devotions before the emergence of the Book of Hours in the thirteenth century.

The Divine Office was at the core of the Christian liturgy. It was a cycle of daily devotions - the prayers of the canonical hours - performed by members of the religious orders and the clergy. By the eighth century the cycle of eight canonical hours had been fixed; they were (times approximate), matins (2.30am), lauds (5am), prime (6am), terce (9am), sext (12 noon), none (3pm), vespers (4.30pm) and compline (6pm).

In the non-monastic roman liturgy of the middle ages, all one hundred and fifty Psalms were recited each week, the majority at matins and vespers. The cycle began at matins on Sunday with Psalm 1 and continued at matins on the following days: Psalm 26 was the first recited on Monday, Psalm 38 the first on Tuesday, Psalm 52 the first on Wednesday, Psalm 68 the first on Thursday, Psalm 80 the first on Friday, Psalm 97 the first on Saturday. The cycle for vespers commenced on Sunday with Psalm 109 and continued throughout the week with the remaining Psalms (some Psalms were set aside for other hours). Other divisions of the Psalms are occasionally found. Such divisions would often be given prominence within the decorative programme. Depictions of King David, author of many of the Psalms, frequently introduce the psalter (especially as historiated Beatus initials to Psalm 1).

Prefatory cycles of illumination were often added to Psalters, consisting of scenes from the life of Christ as seen here, or of King David.

Taken from Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts: A Guide to Technical Terms by Michelle P. Brown (London, 1995)

This leaf comes from a Psalter produced in the middle of the thirteenth century. Psalters contained the Book of Psalms and were usually also accompanied by a calendar showing important saints days according to region, a litany of the saints (invocations to individual saints) and prayers. In monasteries and churches the Psalms were recited over the course of a week during the eight 'canonical hours' into which each day was divided. Psalters were also used for private devotion before Books of Hours began to be made in the thirteenth century.

Psalters could also be introduced by a series of full-page miniatures, known as a prefatory cycle. This leaf comes from this part of the manuscript; it would probably have been the last leaf of a pictorial series showing scenes from the life of Christ, as it shows his Resurrection, Ascension into Heaven and ends with depicting him in majesty.

800-1894