Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Modul III: Mittelalter

Kultur-, Sozial- und Bildungswissenschaftliche Fakultät Seminar: St. Albans and other psalters
Institut für Kunst- und Bildgeschichte Dozentin: Dr. Juliette Calvarin
Sommersemester 2023 Studentin: Jasmina Antonova

The Initial of psalm 52 (“Dixit insipiens in corde suo”) in the Psalter of St. Louis
(Draft)

In this essay I try to find the connection between the content of psalm 52 and its illustrated initial
in the “St. Louis Psalter”.1 The manuscript is made in the 1260’s for king Louis IX of France
(1214-1270) before his departure for his second crusade. The monarch loses his life during the
campaign in 1270 and is canonised after his death, hence the name “Psalter of St. Louis”.2
The text of the 52. song begins on f. 141v (fig. 1) and ends on f. 142r (fig. 2).
1 [Unto the end, for Maeleth, understandings to David.]3 The fool said in his heart: There is no God.
[In finem, pro Maeleth intelligentiae. David.] Dixit insipiens in corde suo : Non est Deus.
2 They are corrupted, and become abominable in iniquities: there is none that doth good.
Corrupti sunt, et abominabiles facti sunt in iniquitatibus; non est qui faciat bonum.
3 God looked down from heaven on the children of men: to see if there were any that did understand, or
did seek God.
Deus de caelo prospexit super filios hominum, ut videat si est intelligens, aut requirens Deum.
4 All have gone aside, they are become unprofitable together, there is none that doth good, no not one.
Omnes declinaverunt, simul inutiles facti sunt; non est qui faciat bonum, non est usque ad unum.
5 Shall not all the workers of iniquity know, who eat up my people as they eat bread?
Nonne scient omnes qui operantur iniquitatem, qui devorant plebem meam ut cibum panis?
6 They have not called upon God: there have they trembled for fear, where there was no fear. For God
hath scattered the bones of them that please men: they have been confounded, because God hath despised
them.
Deum non invocaverunt; illic trepidaverunt timore, ubi non erat timor. Quoniam Deus dissipavit ossa
eorum qui hominibus placent: confusi sunt, quoniam Deus sprevit eos.
7 Who will give out of Sion the salvation of Israel? When God shall bring back the captivity of his
people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
Quis dabit ex Sion salutare Israel? Cum converterit Deus captivitatem plebis suae, exsultabit Jacob, et
laetabitur Israel.4

The topic of the song is the foolishness and wickedness of those who don’t believe in God (v. 1,
2). The lack of faith is understood as the cause of evil, which is also epidemic since it corrupts all
mankind (v. 4). Two separate points of view are to be recognised in the psalm. The first one is of the
speaker who is a witness of the corruption of mankind (v. 1, 2) but also of God’s gaze upon
mankind (v. 3), which is the second perspective mentioned in the psalm (v. 4). Assuming the
speaker in the text is king David himself, there is an allusion to his enemies and the prosecutors of

1 Note: this draft is based only on personal observations with almost no additional research.
2 Harvey Stahl, “Bathsheba and the Kings: The Beatus Initial in the Psalter of Saint Louis (Paris, BNF, Ms Lat. 10525),”
in The Illuminated Psalter: Studies in the Content, Purpose and Placement of its Images, ed. Frank Olaf Büttner
(Turnhout: Brepols, 2004), 427–34, 575–76 (p. 427)
3 This part is missing in the St. Louis psalter.
4 Source: https://drbo.org/drl/chapter/21052.htm (last access: 29.05.2023; 16:41)
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 Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Modul III: Mittelalter

Kultur-, Sozial- und Bildungswissenschaftliche Fakultät Seminar: St. Albans and other psalters
Institut für Kunst- und Bildgeschichte Dozentin: Dr. Juliette Calvarin
Sommersemester 2023 Studentin: Jasmina Antonova

his people (v. 5) who shall be punished by God for their sins (v. 6). The psalm ends with
encouraging words for the salvation of Jerusalem (v. 7), which will be an important point later on in
the essay.
The illustration of the initial is quite interestingly organised. It is framed by a square and the
letter D in Dixit occupies most of the space. Its loop contains the image, whereas the next three
words [D]ixit incipiens in are also part from the illustration. The letters are written in gold ink
divided into 8 small red and blue squares located on the right side of the initial.
In my description I will mainly focus on the image inside the letter D. It is divided into two
parts: an upper and a lower. This is a reoccurring organisation of the illustrated initials throughout
the whole psalter. In the upper half are located two figures. The one on the left has long beard and
hair and a crown on the head: a depiction of a king. He is kneeling with his hands in a praying
gesture. His body is turned to the right where another character is to be seen. This second figure is
framed by two curved lines that are connected on the top and the bottom. This creates a sense of
another separate space, which is also reinforced by the different background. The character is sitting
en face, his right hand is lifted in a benediction sign and his left one holds a white sphere. Behind
his head there is a halo with a cross, which is a sign that this is the personification of God. Those
two figures are also a reoccurring motif in the initials throughout the psalter and they always occupy
the upper half of the image (e.g. a similar organisation of the initial can be seen on f. 110v (fig. 3)
and f. 126v (fig.4)).
I think this upper part illustrates the idea of the psalms per se. The figure with the crown on one
side could be linked to king David, on the other could be identified as king Louis IX himself. In any
case the character appears in conversation with (or at least in the presence of) God and maybe
exactly through the recital of the psalms this connection not only to The Lord but also between the
ancient and the medieval king is being established. Another aspect that reinforces the identification
between David and Louis IX is the seventh verse talking about the salvation of Jerusalem, although
there is no reference to this part in the illustration. However, I do believe that it ties well with the
historical context of the rule of king Louis. On one hand the speaker in the song (king David) says
encouraging words to the listeners that Jerusalem will be saved. On the other hand Louis IX, by
participating in the crusades, has as an objective precisely the salvation of the holy land from the
“non-believers”. Although not directly, the seventh verse ties to the figure of the king through the
idea of Jerusalem.
2

 Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Modul III: Mittelalter

Kultur-, Sozial- und Bildungswissenschaftliche Fakultät Seminar: St. Albans and other psalters
Institut für Kunst- und Bildgeschichte Dozentin: Dr. Juliette Calvarin
Sommersemester 2023 Studentin: Jasmina Antonova

The lower part of the D offers an imagery particularly in relation to the psalm. It represents two
men in combat. Both of them are naked, with only a piece of fabric wrapped around their bodies.
The characters are facing against each other, their arms are intertwined in almost a geometrical
pattern resembling a knot.5 The two bodies are distanced from one another, their arms are
intertwined and their right feet are crossed on the ground. This creates a diamond-shaped
composition which is reinforced by the background. The figures are as if closed in a geometrical
form with red and blue pattern which separates them from the gold background outside its frame.
The blue cloth wrapped around the body of the person on the right creates a sense of movement,
since one end is flying in the air. The red garment of the rival could resemble blood dripping from
his body on the ground. Those elements together with the position of the bodies creates in my
opinion a scene of violence and depicts the cruelty of the non-believers towards their brethren (v. 2,
4).
The two figures in combat are in opposition with the characters above them: God and the king. It
appears that the monarch separates himself from the violence of those who reject The Lord and is
instead represented in close relation to him: a depiction of the king’s righteousness. At first my
interpretation was that the initial represents the two points of view mentioned earlier in the essay.
The upper part depicts the king witnessing God who from his part is looking at the wicked and
corrupted occupying the lower half of the initial. This testimony is then conveyed through the psalm
(v. 3). Although in the illustration the monarch is looking at The Lord and not at the two men below,
the reader understands that he is well aware of the sinfulness of mankind. However, this
interpretation of mine doesn’t take into account that God’s eyes in the illustration are not directed
towards the scene of cruelty. He appears to be cross-eyed, which I do not know how is to be
understood. My second thought was that maybe he is looking at the reader and thus conveying the
idea that the viewer also belongs to the sinful people mentioned in the psalm.

[I leave my draft without a conclusion, given the uncertainty of my reasoning in the last
paragraph.]

5The pattern formed by their arms also looks like the knots used for decoration of the outline of the initial on the left
and right side.
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Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Modul III: Mittelalter

Kultur-, Sozial- und Bildungswissenschaftliche Fakultät Seminar: St. Albans and other psalters
Institut für Kunst- und Bildgeschichte Dozentin: Dr. Juliette Calvarin
Sommersemester 2023 Studentin: Jasmina Antonova

Illustrations

Fig. 1: “Psalter of St. Louis”, f. 141v.

 Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Modul III: Mittelalter

Kultur-, Sozial- und Bildungswissenschaftliche Fakultät Seminar: St. Albans and other psalters
Institut für Kunst- und Bildgeschichte Dozentin: Dr. Juliette Calvarin
Sommersemester 2023 Studentin: Jasmina Antonova

Fig. 2: “Psalter of St. Louis”, f. 142r.

Fig. 3: “Psalter of St. Louis, f. 110v. Fig. 4: “Psalter of St. Louis, f. 126v.
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