The Macedonian Renaissance’s “The Paris Psalter” Artwork

*SOME* folks think the Italian Renaissance was the *only* Renaissance. But we Medievalists realize that there were several times when the culture of the Ancient Greek and Roman civilizations was self-consciously re-created, to form phenomenal artistic movements.

And if you’re not a Medieval historian who knew this already, no worries — I am here to fix things up for you, especially concerning the “Macedonian” Renaissnce of Byzantine history.

The image here is from a book called the Paris Psalter, often considered the premier illuminated manuscript from the 10th-century Macedonian Renaissance. Consisting of 449 folios, it is most famous for the (somewhat damaged) 14 miniature paintings that showcase the high artistic achievements of the era. The Paris Psalter copies the Psalms of David from the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, a very popular work.

And certainly we can see in the two pictures here elements of traditional art typical of Medieval culture: the gold borders encompassing the frame mimic book-binding; the subjects (Moses receiving the Ten Commandments and King David defeating the lion); the lack of natural proportions (regarding the small figures in the foreground, whether human or animal).

But other features come straight out of Antiquity: the natural shading, the depiction of the mountains and landscape, the natural folds of the clothing. The personification of non-Christian subjects is one of my favorite things about this manuscript — for instance, “Strength” looks like an enormous man, putting his arms on David to help him kill the lion. Interesting that he has a halo. Even better is the naked seated man in the lower left-hand corner of the Moses painting — he’s holding a branch. He represents Mount Sinai (and no halo for him for some reason).

The Psalter of course appealed to the religious sensibilities of time. But the subject — King David, supported by God and militarily successful — would have found secular sympathies among the wealthiest Byzantines, who would have been the main audience.