The Folios - f.149v
The Gradual Psalms - historiated initial
(Psalms 119(120) - 133(134)). The opening of the Gradual Psalms is marked with a historiated initial. The subject chosen for the initial to the first of the Gradual Psalms (Psalm 119(120)) is a representation of the owner kneeling and reading her book of hours while Christ looks down on her. The opening words of the Psalm are: ' In my trouble I cried to the Lord: and he heard me'. The words in the book held by the owner can just be read: 'd[o]mine labia me[a] aperies et'. These are the opening words of the Hours of Virgin. The artist belongs to the 'Cholet Group' of Parisian illuminators. The very fine scrolls painted in gold paint on the burnished gold background are a feature found in only a small number of luxurious manuscripts of the late 13th century such as the Alphonso Psalter in the British Library and the Breviary of Philippe le Bel in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. The scene in the lower margin shows a beardless youth in a tunic shooting with a bow and arrow at two birds on the wing.
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