We don't dive into illuminated medieval liturgical books as much as I'd like, and when one thinks of them, one tends to think of the manuscripts of the Latin West, but there is, of course, a comparative tradition to be found within the Christian East.
Within the collections of the Metropolitan Museum in New York is a beautiful Byzantine Psalter which they date to the late 1100's. They describe the manuscript as "one of the approximately fifty so-called aristocratic psalters that survive from the Middle Byzantine era." The text of the manuscript is in Greek, as one would expect from a Byzantine liturgical book, and is filled with beautiful illuminations done in an icon-adjacent style. It is a psalter that at one at the same time feels both distinctive and yet also very familiar, showcasing a common tradition.
Here are just a few of the pages taken from the psalter for your edification and consideration.
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| Frontispiece showing Christ surrounded by various roundels with vegetal motifs. |
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| The Penitence of David |
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| Moses crossing the Red Sea |
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| Moses receiving the Law |
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| The Prophet Habbakuk |
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| The Prophet Isaiah |
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| The Mother of God |
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