Golden Psalter of St. Gallen

The Golden Psalter of St. Gall (Psalterium Aureum, Cod. Sang. 22) is a Carolingian Gallican psalter produced in the late 9th century, probably begun in West Francia (Soissons, court school of Charles the Bald?), later continued in St. Gall Abbey.

Illustration of psalm 59 (60) (showing Joab as a cavalry leader in Carolingian-era Frankish cavalry fashion).

The manuscript consists of 344 vellum leaves (37 x 28 cm), with two full-page miniatures and fifteen full or half-page illustrations on the psalm titles. The decorations are predominantly in the first half of the manuscript; the final pictorial illustration shows "David in the desert of Judah" (depicted as a Carolingian nobleman with three men-at-arms standing in a forest), illustrating psalm 62 (63) (p. 141), although the figure of King David is again shown as standing on the S initial of psalm 68 (69).

References
    • Scherrer Gustav, Verzeichniss der Handschriften der Stiftsbibliothek von St. Gallen, Halle 1875, 11–12.
    • Florentine Mütherich, Joachim E. Gaehde: Karolingische Buchmalerei. Prestel, München 1979, 122–126.
    • Euw, Anton von, Die St. Galler Buchkunst vom 8. bis zum Ende des 11. Jahrhunderts, Band I: Textband, St. Gallen 2008, 400–408, Nr. 98.
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