
Collection Online as of March 20, 2023
Part of a set. See all set records
Ink, tempera and liquid gold on vellum
Each leaf: 18.1 x 12.9 cm (7 1/8 x 5 1/16 in.)
The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection 2006.13.b
115 Manuscripts & Textiles
The ape and the wild boar symbolized vice in general and lust in particular during the Middle Ages.
This leaf shows the second half of Psalm 142. The page’s first line reads, “Non avertas faciem tuam a me,” or “Turn not away thy face from me.” This last page of the penitential psalms immediately precedes the litany of saints, which begins on the other side of this leaf. Below the text stands an ape fishing at a small pond across from a large bird, a scene possibly from a fable or simply meant to be amusing or diversionary.