Ingeborg Psalter
Chantilly, Musée Condé, Ms. 9 olim 1695
This manuscript has long been associated with Ingeborg of Denmark, whose failed marriage to King Philip II Augustus of France in 1193 was one of the great scandals of its day. The golden pages of her psalter – which contain a liturgical calendar, scenes from the Life of Christ and saints, and the text of all 150 psalms – are among the most lavish artistic products of their time.
The ‘Tree of Jesse’ traces the genealogy of Christ and Mary to the biblical kings David and Solomon, and no doubt appealed to medieval notions of ideal kingship. The dazzling page, well represented by the facsimile, was partly made possible by improvements in travel that brought West African commodities like gold and ivory to Europe in ever-increasing quantities in this era. Royal French manuscripts such as the Ingeborg Psalter are one of the great strengths of Pitt’s facsimile collection; several were purchased to support the teaching and research of M. Alison Stones, Professor Emerita of History of Art and Architecture and a leading expert in this field.
To the best of our knowledge, this manuscript has yet to be fully digitized and made available online. If you would like to bring an open-access digitization to our attention, please contact the UAG at Pitt.