Queen Melisende’s Psalter

This psalter, thought to have been produced in the monastery of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, is a fine example of the fusion of Western art and Byzantine art. Its programme and iconography follow the Byzantine tradition but are associated with specifically Western elements. A total of six artists and a scribe, probably of French origin, produced this work. The work carried out by these artists reflects their own origins. It seems that some of them were born in France or Italy. The introduction features twenty-four full-page miniatures painted on gold grounds. They depict scenes from the life of Christ accompanied by Greek inscriptions. They are the work of a painter of French origin. This artist was probably born in the Crusader kingdom of Jerusalem and probably studied Byzantine art, perhaps even in Constantinople. His name was Basilius (“Basilius me fecit”, f. 12v). He was greatly inspired by eleventh-century Constantinopolitan pictorial models. The composition of the scenes, the play of colours, and the draperies and the types of ornaments reflect the Byzantine references known by the artist.

On the other hand, the insertion of several miniatures linked to the New Testament at the beginning of the manuscript was an eleventh-century Western invention. Many of these scenes illustrate this mixing of cultures, particularly as regards the iconographic details.

The representation of the holy women at the tomb shows the three women described in the Gospel of Mark (16:1–8), generally preferred by Westerners, and not the two women mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew, generally chosen by the Byzantines until the thirteenth century.

There are, however, typically Byzantine iconographic elements, such as the angel sitting on the stone of Christ’s tomb, accompanied by sleeping soldiers. They are from the Gospel of Matthew (28:1–10) and no longer that of Mark.

The twenty-four New Testament illuminations were followed by a calendar made up of the twelve signs of the zodiac, each placed within a medallion. There are also eight large initials on gold grounds occupying full pages. They correspond to the liturgical division of the psalms. Initials, also gold, complete and decorate all of the psalter’s texts. At the end of the manuscript are the portraits of nine saints, placed in panels that take up half a folio.

The psalter’s binding reflects the same stylistic leanings. The sculpted work of the ivory binding evokes Byzantine and Western characteristics. All the geometric motifs making up the edge of the binding refer, on the other hand, to borrowings from Islamic art, which demonstrates the contact that existed between Christian culture and Islamic culture in the Near East, despite the political and religious conflicts.

The dating and patronage of this codex have been the objects of much discussion. No name appears directly in the work. However, it seems that it was executed for Queen Melisende of Jerusalem. Several references are made to members of her family in the zodiac calendar. Furthermore, the presence of Western and Byzantine characteristics evokes the cultural context of the Crusader kingdom of Jerusalem. The psalter may have been commissioned by Melisende’s husband, King Fulk, count of Anjou, thought to have made a gift of it to his wife in 1134–35.