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PSALMS AND HEAVENLY JERUSALEM IN 1474
Three scenes from the life of David. Leaf from the Psalterium triplex of the Zwolle Bible,
written by Jacobus van Enckhuysen and illuminated by the Masters of the Zwolle-Bible.
Netherlands, Zwolle, 21 December 1474.
Vellum; leaf: 534 x 355 mm. – Written space: 356 x 256 mm, ruled for three columns of 30 lines
(dimensions identical to vol. six of the ‘Zwolse Bijbel’, Utrecht, see below). Textualis Formata in dark
brown ink, written by Jacobus van Enckhuysen. One-line red and blue initials, heading of psalm in red.
On verso of the leaf: three six-line historiated initials in blue on gold ground, text surrounded by a threesided border. – The former inner (=right) margin slightly trimmed, two holes in the lower margin
mended. As the leaf was once folded twice, there are two folds crossed in the centre, one of which runs
through the middle of the historiated initials.
PROVENANCE
1. A single leaf from volume six of the so-called Zwolle Bible (Utrecht, Universiteitsbibliotheek,
Hs. 31), made from 1464 to 1476 for Herman Droem (d. 1476), dean of the chapter of St.
Mary at Utrecht. The quire to which the present leaf belonged is dated, 21 December 1474.
2. Herman Droem presented the bible to the chapter of St. Mary at Utrecht. In the collegiate
church the bible was exhibited from 1670 to 1740. It attracted many visitors who wrote their
names on the margins or excised individual miniatures and whole pages.
3. Private collection, Cologne (since the 19th century).
Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books AG · Mosboden 1 · 6063 Stalden · Schweiz
Office: Spalenberg 55 · 4051 Basel · Fon +41 61 275 7575 · Fax +41 61 275 7576
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TEXT
Parallel texts of Psalterium gallicanum, romanum and iuxta hebraeos. On former recto: psalm 100, 2-6
beginning “cantabo tibi domine./ Psallam et intelligam in via immaculata: quando venies ad me.”;
the preceding page would have contained the missing words ‘Misericordiam et iudicium’. On
former verso: psalm 100, 7 to the end and psalm 101, 1-2, beginning “Dominus exaudi orationem
meam: et clamor meus ad te veniat”. Red Roman numerals “CI” at the outer margin also indicate
that this is psalm 101.
According to Koert van der Horst (former curator of manuscripts at the University Library
Utrecht), this is the final leaf of quire 17 of the Zwolle Bible (Utrecht, Universiteitsbibliotheek,
Hs. 31, 6 vols.) and belonged once between fol. 133 and 134. The Psalterium triplex and the
Interpretationes nominum hebraicorum formed the sixth volume of the Bible. Volumes 1-4 include the
Old Testament, volume 5 the New Testament. The Psalterium tripartitum is the only part of this
bible in which the text is arranged in three columns. It presents three slightly variant Psalter
versions in Latin, indicating this must have been a study bible showing the intricate relations
between the different Psalm texts.
The Zwolle Bible is one of the extremely few medieval manuscripts with a well-documented
production process. In the colophon to the sixth volume it is stated that a Magister Hermannus
called Droem ordered the Bible, that it was produced in the House of the Brethren of the
Common Life at Zwolle, and
that it was completed on 20
March
1476.
From
the
chronicles of the Zwolle
Fraterhouse we also know the
name of the scribe who copied
all the volumes, Jacobus van
Enckhuysen (d. 1483), who was
also the ‘librarius’ of the
Fraterhouse (Schoengen 1908, p.
190-92). He provided a dated
colophon to each volume, and,
moreover, he also noted the
completion of individual quires.
Quire 17 is dated 21 December
1474 (Van der Horst 2009, p.
111).
Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books AG · Mosboden 1 · 6063 Stalden · Schweiz
Office: Spalenberg 55 · 4051 Basel · Fon +41 61 275 7575 · Fax +41 61 275 7576
[email protected] · www.guenther-rarebooks.com
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Manuskripte und seltene Bücher
ILLUSTRATION
The three identical initials D are placed ‘side by side’, somewhat below the middle of the
columns. All three are historiated, each showing a scene from the life of King David. The first
shows David playing the harp, as he brings the Ark of the Covenant on an oxcart back to
Jerusalem. The second: David kneeling before an altar, with the ark, accompanied by two angels.
The third: David on his deathbed, handing on his crown to the young Solomon at Bathsheba’s
request. Fascinating are the details of the town at the background of the first initial. The towers,
churches and entrance seem to be a free interpretation of the townscape of Utrecht and the
tower consisting of three parts may be inspired on the large Dom tower (one of Europe’s larger
towers at that time) although without its lantern but headed by a dome – as it had to be the
Temple of Jerusalem and Jerusalem itself. Such free interpretations occur more often during the
15th century (H.L.M. Defoer, email 2012).
The dimensions of the layout,
the subtle border decoration, and
the softly and detailed drawn
figures within the initial leave no
doubt that this once was the leaf
that belonged between fols. 133134 in the sixth volume of the
Zwolle Bible, where all other
leaves
with
miniatures
(beginnings of psalms 1, 51 and
100 resp. 101) are missing (Van
der Horst 1989, 2009). The
discovery of the present leaf
including psalm 101 is therefore
quite extraordinary as it sheds
light on the constitution of the
original Psalter volume that lost
all its other historiated initials.
While all six volumes of the Bible were written by the same scribe, the miniatures were created by
several hands, or, more precisely, perhaps by a group of three or more masters. The colophon of
vol. 6 indicates that the book was completed at the house of the Brethren of the Common Life at
Zwolle (Van der Horst 1984, 1989, 2009) and the illuminators most certainly were associated
with that house too. The initials in vol. 1 are made by a hand (or by hands) different from those
that created the miniatures in vols. 2-6. The chronicle of the Zwolle Fraterhouse mentions four
friars who illuminated manuscripts. Two of these died at a very old age in 1472: Henricus
Wachtendonck and Arnoldus Vollenhoe. The two other illuminator-brothers, Petrus Bree and
Hermannus Coevordie, died in 1483 and 1484, respectively. Where these the younger brothers
who finished the later volumes and thus also the present Psalter leaf?
LITERATURE
K. van der Horst, ‘Het toeval en de Zwolse bijbel van St. Marie’, in: Bijzonder onderzoek. Een ontdekkingsreis
door de bijzondere collecties van de Universiteitsbibliotheek Utrecht. Zwolle 2009, pp. 106-113. Internet:
http://boek425.library.uu.nl/
Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books AG · Mosboden 1 · 6063 Stalden · Schweiz
Office: Spalenberg 55 · 4051 Basel · Fon +41 61 275 7575 · Fax +41 61 275 7576
[email protected] · www.guenther-rarebooks.com
DR. JÖRN GÜNTHER · RARE BOOKS AG
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Manuskripte und seltene Bücher
Koert van der Horst, Illuminated and Decorated Manuscripts in the University Library Utrecht. An Illustrated
Catalogue, Maarssen/ ‘s Gravenhage 1989, cat. no 76 (pp. 22-24), pll. 376-413, esp. 411, 413
Koert van der Horst, ‘The long arm of coincidence: the missing initials of the Zwolle Bible’, in: Theatrum
orbis librorum. Liber amicorum presented to Nico Israel on the occasion of his seventieth birthday. Ed. by T. Croiset van
Uchelen, K. van der Horst & G. Schilder. Utrecht 1989, pp. 193-223
Beeldschone Boeken. De Middeleeuwen in goud en inkt, exh. cat. Museum Catharijneconvent Utrecht 2009, fig.
30, p. 42
Christopher de Hamel, ‘Dates in the Giant Bible of Mainz’, in: Jeffrey F. Hamburger and Anne S.
Korteweg (eds.), Tributes in Honour of James H. Marrow. Studies in Painting and Manuscript Illumination of the Late
Middle Ages and Northern Renaissance, 2006, pp. 173-183
The Golden Age of Dutch Manuscript Painting, exh. cat. Utrecht and New York 1989/90, Stuttgart 1989, pp.
244-247
M Schoengen (Hrsg.), Jacobus Traiecti alias De Voecht: Narratio de inchoatione domus clericorum in Zwollis,
Amsterdam 1908, S. 190-192
Online: Utrecht University Library, Virtual showcase: http://vitrine.library.uu.nl/en/index.htm
Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books AG · Mosboden 1 · 6063 Stalden · Schweiz
Office: Spalenberg 55 · 4051 Basel · Fon +41 61 275 7575 · Fax +41 61 275 7576
[email protected] · www.guenther-rarebooks.com