The Winchester Psalter is an English 12th-century illuminated manuscript psalter (British Library, Cotton MS Nero C.iv), also sometimes known as the Psalter of Henry of Blois, and formerly known as the St Swithun's Psalter. It was probably made for use in Winchester, most scholars agreeing that the most likely patron was the Henry of Blois, brother of Stephen, King of England, and Bishop of Winchester from 1129 until his death in 1171. Until recent decades it was "a little-studied masterpiece of English Romanesque painting", but it has been the subject of several recent studies.
The manuscript now has 142 vellum leaves of 32 x 22.25 cm, which after a fire in 1731 have been cut and mounted individually and rebound.
Miniatures
The thirty-eight full-page miniatures are all grouped at the beginning of the manuscript. They are nearly all divided horizontally into two or three compartments with different scenes, creating an unusually extended narrative cycle of more than eighty scenes covering the Old Testament (6 pages), the Life of the Virgin and Life of Christ (23 pages) and several scenes covering the Second Coming and Last Judgement (9 pages) - a number of non-narrative subjects such as the Jesse Tree, Christ in Majesty and an enthroned Virgin being included in these figures. Together they form "one of the most unusual and innovative miniature cycles of the twelfth century"
Most of the miniatures are drawings tinted with coloured washes set against fully painted backgrounds. This is a common English technique from at least the 11th to the 13th century. Two miniatures, of the Death of the Virgin and the Virgin Enthroned, are in a different fully painted technique and style, and follow Byzantine iconographic models, although the forms of the drapery are English in style. The other miniatures are all closely related to one another in style, though some are of markedly higher quality than others. According to Heslop, this is deliberately done to reflect the social status of the subjects depicted; Haney considers it may be the result of an artist working closely with a less skilled assistant. Apart from the two "Byzantine" miniatures, all the others have borders of geometric ornament, onto which the central image sometimes impinges. Many scenes or parts of scenes are just drawn in ink, presumably unfinished, especially towards the end of the cycle. Some paint has been added to areas by a less skilled artist, probably a few decades after the original work. Many miniatures have titles in Norman-French, in a different hand to the main text, probably added later in the 12th century. The original sequence of the miniatures is uncertain.
Haney's analysis of the iconography of the cycle suggests a variety of sources and influences were involved. Some details can be found in Early Christian works such as the Cotton Genesis but not in works from later periods. Other details show awareness of Carolingian and Ottonian traditions, while much else continues Anglo-Saxon and English Romanesque iconography.
Contents
The manuscript contains: (fols 2r–39r) 38 full-page miniatures (fols 40r–45v) Calendar illustrated with Labours of the Months and Zodiac Signs (fols 46r–123v) Psalms 1–150, in parallel Latin and French versions, with decorated or historiated initials at the major divisions (fols 123v–132r) Canticles, Gloria, Lord's Prayer, and Creeds (fol 132r–v) Litany (fols 133v–134r) Fourteen collects (fols 134r–142v) Thirty-six prayers (fol 142v) A rubric introducing a text that is now missing from the volume
Patron
Several pieces of evidence suggest that the patron was Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester from 1129 to 1171: Feasts in the calendar suggest it was made for Winchester Two feasts in the calendar suggest a connection with Cluny Abbey; Henry of Blois had formerly been a monk of Cluny, The presence and absence of feasts in the calendar suggest that it was made between 1120 and 1173, or before 1161 according to Wormold and Haney, as the Calendar lacks the feast of Edward the Confessor, canonized in that year, One of the Latin prayers is addressed to St Swithun, patron saint of Winchester Cathedral, whose relics were in the cathedral; the prayer mentions "sanctis quorum corpora in hac iuxta te requiescunt aula" (saints whose bodies rest in this church next to you)