Barberini Psalter

Barberini Psalter

The Barberini Psalter belongs to a fascinating group of Byzantine psalter manuscripts, which researchers call "marginal psalters”. As the name suggests, they are characterized by marginal illuminations for which the scribes left plenty of space, especially in the outer margins and in the bas-de-page. The images are not used purely for illustration and decoration, but are rather to be understood as partly exegetical commentaries on the text. To ensure that the reader associates each miniature with the correct psalm, both are linked by a sophisticated system of signs and sometimes letters. Seven of these elaborate manuscripts have survived, with the 9th-century Chludov Psalter being the oldest codex of this type. The Barberini Psalter is particularly significant due to its imperial patronage and its extensive illumination.

Commissioned by the Byzantine Emperor

The Barberini Psalter can be dated to around the last quarter of the 11th century based on various stylistic features of the script and images and was created by a gifted scribe named Theodoros of Caesarea and a no less talented illuminator in the Stoudios Monastery in Constantinople, which was one of the most important monasteries in the Byzantine Empire. The patronage of the manuscript is also particularly noteworthy: The full-page miniature on its first page suggests that the codex was commissioned by Emperor Alexios I Comnenos (1048–1118), who is depicted together with his son John II (1087-1143) and Empress Irene (1066–1123). The miniature shows the coronation ceremony of the young heir to the throne as co-emperor, which took place in 1092. The precious manuscript was most likely created in this setting.

Christian Interpretation of the Old Testament Psalms

As the reader browses through the codex, many of the over 300 marginal illuminations initially appear puzzling. Their meaning and their relationship to the Psalms and Odes of the Old Testament often seem unclear. Thus the texts are usually linked with New Testament or even contemporary scenes. This results in multi-layered levels of meaning, which repeatedly embed the Psalms in the Christian history of salvation. For example, typological depictions were used to interpret and construe the Old Testament Psalms and Odes as foreshadowings of New Testament events. Psalm 45, for example, in which a royal wedding is sung about, was understood as a prefiguration of the Annunciation to Mary, which, in the Christian view, would be fulfilled in the New Testament.

From the Possession of the Barberini Family

The ownership of the codex in the modern era is surprisingly clear. Until 1628, it was part of the library of Skarlatos Matzas, Archon of Thessaly and Greece, who gave it to the Cardinal of Naples, Francesco Boncompagni (1592–1641). The latter sold the codex in 1641 to Cardinal Francesco Barberini (1597–1679), one of the greatest and most influential patrons of the arts in 17th century Italy. In 1902, the Barberini Psalter finally came into the possession of the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, where it is preserved today under the shelfmark MS Barb. gr. 372.