Utrecht, 1475-1500

In addition to the style of the miniatures, a Dutch provenance, and notes written in Dutch in the late fifteenth century, the inclusion in the calendar of St. Willibrod, Bishop of Utrecht (d. 739), points to the manuscript's probable origin there. The miniature shown here is the traditional illustration for the Seven Penitential Psalms: King David, his crown humbly resting at his feet, kneels penitently in prayer. His harp identifies him as the Psalmist. In the background is the city of Jerusalem, envisioned here as a series of Gothic edifices.

Fig. 1: Parchment, 129 folios, 111 x 76 (60 x 38) mm, 1 column, 18 lines, in Latin, written in Gothic script.