Kindermord von Bethlehem, Hildesheim Cathedral Library

By Julie Z. Russo

  One of the most unique and important books of the 12th century to help shape the practice of worship by adherents of the old and new testaments is on display at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Called the St. Albans Salter, the manuscript originated around 1130 at the St. Albans Abbey in England. The prayer book with its 150 psalms and 40 full-page illuminations contains the most revered and cherished passages of scripture.  The psalms, originally created during the reign of King David in Jerusalem, were revised in St. Albans Salter to include illustrated depictions of the life and times of Jesus.

 The exhibition entitled “Canterbury and St Albans: Treasures from the Church and Cloister” has particular resonance at the start of the Jewish and Christian holidays this December. By studying the ancient texts and prayers within the St. Albans Salter, visitors to the Getty Museum gain an appreciation for both the artistic and liturgical circumstances surrounding the Norman Conquest of England.  The opening of the display in September also culminated a year of scholarly examination by curators, conservators, and scientists at the museum, who received the disbound leaves of the manuscript from the Cathedral Library in Hildesheim, Germany in 2012.

 To understand the significance of the manuscript, Getty Associate Curator Kristen Collins invites viewers to consider the historical context during the time the St. Albans Salter was created. Beginning with the Norman Conquest and control of England by William the Conqueror in 1066, a radical transformation of the culture occurred, Collins said. Within the century new castles, churches, and an overhauled government would emerge, and during a lull, the St. Albans Salter prayer book appeared on the scene.

 The manuscript had beautiful gold leaf illustrations made even more impressive by the precious pigments that provided color on the parchment paper. During the middle ages such books were a rarity to be found only in churches or owned by the wealthy few. It was assumed that the gospel book’s creator was Alexis Master for the Church of Canterbury designed in both a characteristic Anglo-Saxon style along with the hallmarks of Romanesque art.

 Characterized by the symbolic colors of earthly green and red, as well as heavenly blue and white, the anointed King David, angels, and Mary Magdalene are depicted in narrative-form based on the third section of the Old Testament. The words psalms derives from the Hebrew word “Tehillim” meaning "praises." The English translation derives from the Greek word “psalmoi” meaning “words accompanying music,” and were often linked to describe King David—though he is not believed to be the author by modern scholars.

 Along with venerating King David, the psalms were used to praise God, in the temple in Jerusalem, to ask for forgiveness or give thanks, during a communal disaster to pray for deliverance, and as songs of praise.  Six psalms called michtam are carried at all times. Other tehellim are recited when a Jewish person dies. More than 1,000 years later, the 150 psalms are still read by both Jewish and Christian faiths including the Eastern Orthodox Church. Jews recite the psalms in connection to the Torah according to the day, and complete readings on a weekly or monthly basis. Christian churches typically offer psalms during Christmas and Easter services.

 Some noteworthy examples from the St. Albans Salter include psalm 118.71 that is the cornerstone of the Jewish prayer for Sunday and the Protestant bible. Twelve psalms performed by relatives of Korah who were noted as the singers and porters of the temple are accompanied with an illustration of figures with hands clutched in prayer, and there's an illustrated depiction of King David with a gold crown who appears ready to put his trust in God in psalm 24 with the recitation of the lines “To you lord I have lifted up my soul,” said Ms. Collins. In one illustration of the nun Christina, curators discovered original initials only visible by back lighting to express the devotional aides used by adherents to interface with faith-based texts, Ms. Collins noted.

 By examining the illustrations and reading the scripture viewers of the St. Albans Salter receive a sense of what it must have been like to worship during a time of limited information.

 “In the middle ages, people didn’t read the gospel, though it’s common for people today to know it,” Ms. Collins said. During that time, congregants would have had to have heard the gospel stories in church, as “snippets of liturgy.” The arrival of the manuscript meant more people had a means for viewing and envisioning life during the time of the Temple of Jerusalem and the prophecy of the coming of the messiah, as well as a means for linking the old testament with the new testament, she said.

 The exhibit also includes stained glass windows from Canterbury Cathedral in England, and artifacts symbolic of the life and times of the martyr Thomas Becket.

Canterbury and St Albans: Treasures from the Church and Cloister on display until February 2, 2014