Athos Holy Mount

Illuminated Manuscripts	5.14 Psalter 13th c. Stavronikita Cod. 46 Parchment, 26 x 17.5 cm, ff. 435
	The manuscript contains the 150 Psalms of David (fol. 4r) and the nine Odes (fol. 346r). The single-column text of fifteen lines per page is written in minuscule script in gold ink. A later note (fol. 434v) stresses that the psalter belongs to the Monastery of St Nicholas, called Stavronikita. The decoration, though limited, is of a high standard, and the codex is one of the so-called aristocratic psalters. The manuscript is decorated with rectangular and band-shaped headpieces and initials, done in gold or decorated with a wealth of colourful floral ornaments. The sole full-page miniature, of the author of the Psalms, David, who is shown standing in a king's robe and with a stringed musical instrument in his hands, is especially fine work, as is the decorative border around him. The dominant colours are gold, blue and red. The position of the central figure, the proportions of the body and the rendering of the facial features closely resemble works of the mid and late thirteenth century.
	Bibliography: Lambros 1895, p. 78. Buchthal 1972, p. 53. Mavropoulou-Tsioumi 1975, p. 155. Cutler 1984, p. 9. Thesauroi 1991, pp. 338-9, figs. 358-61. Galavaris 1995 (2), p. 257, fig. 205.
	Ch.M.-T.
	Index of exhibits of Monastery of Stavronikita 13th century

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