A Note on the Albani-Psalter Litany Miniature
Most writers now reject Dodwell's dating of pre-1123 for the so-called
Albani-Psalter in Hildesheim, and follow Thomson's more cautious c.
1120-30 date bracket. It has also been suggested that the initial/miniature
which heads the Litany of saints on
page
403 of the Psalter, with its groups of kneeling nuns, and its overt
emphasis on the Trinity, must refer to the dedication of Holy Trinity Priory,
Markyate, a community of nuns consecrated in 1145, which implies a yet later
date for the manuscript.
However, special veneration of the Trinity at Markyate probably dates back
to the time when Roger the Hermit settled there, thanks to a vision he had
previously had, of three angels. Through Roger's influence, Christina's own
devotion to the Trinity probably dates from her earliest companionship with him
at Markyate (we are told that they prayed together every day; Talbot,
pp.104-107). Thus the emphasis on the Trinity in the image does not allow us to
date the Psalter image any earlier than Christina's arrival at Markyate
(c.1118?), or at least within the lifetime of Roger (i.e. pre-1123)
An
unnoticed detail of the Litany miniature may provide evidence for a relatively
late dating of the manuscript. Visible in the original, and in some
reproductions (e.g. Nilgen, p. 163), is the fact that the wings of the dove
which comprises the third person of the Trinity, were originally drawn
outspread, but have been erased, and painted close to the bird's body. Such
changes of the Alexis Master's underdrawing by the artist responsible for the
overpainting are not uncommon in themselves, but we must assume that the
painter had, in each case, some reason for preferring the alternative design.
It may thus be significant that in the description of Christina's vision of the
Trinity in the Vita the first two persons are described as "two
venerable and very pleasing personages clothed in white garments. Standing side
by side, they differed neither in stature nor beauty" (Talbot, p.157). In
the manuscript, Father and Son's clothing are admittedly not painted in plain
white, but they are painted like mirror images of one another: standing side by
side, looks, stature, and posture are the same. The description goes on,
"On their shoulders a dove far more beautiful than other doves seemed to
rest" (Talbot, pp.156-7). It is possible that the alteration of the image
was due to the fact that the artist knew that the Dove should 'seem to rest'
("quiescere videbatur"), and should therefore not be depicted with
outspread wings, as if in flight.
As for the groups of nuns in the Psalter miniature, we know that Christina
had other women with her from a relatively early date: even before her monastic
profession, c.l131, we read in the Vita that, "On the morrow of
Whitsunday, having called together three of her maidens who were living with
her (for with her growing reputation the number of maidens grew)..."
(Talbot, p. 145).
We cannot put an exact date on the vision of the Trinity, but in the
narrative of the Vita it occurs between Christina's monastic profession,
c.l131, and the accession of King Stephen in 1135, so it seems that the
Psalter's Litany miniature, reflecting the details of the vision, also
post-dates c.l131.
PJK 30/8/94
[Hyperlinks added 2007]
Postscript: The 'miniature' is in fact an historiated initial 'K'
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