#luttrell

#MonsterMonday: The Luttrell Psalter

We are joining our colleagues in the American Geographical Society (@agslibrary​) and others with #MonsterMonday posts of ‘grotesques’ from our recently acquired facsimile of the mid-14th-century Luttrell Psalter, reproduced from the original at the British Library and printed in 2006 at Cambridge University Press for The Folio Society in an edition of 1480 numbered copies.

Have you ever tried to read your favorite book, but kept getting distracted by other things in your immediate environment? Some scholars suggest that the monsters or ‘grotesques’ represented here were often illustrated in the margins of illuminated manuscripts to distract the reader and tempt them to sin by ignoring the words of the Lord. What was the first thing you noticed on this page from the Psalter? My money is on the weird-looking monkey-bat-thing that sits on top of a purple mask, possibly resembling a distorted mirror.

This is the first presentation in our #MonsterMonday series where we explore the meaning behind some of these scary, improbable beasts. With the help of author Michelle P. Brown, who wrote a thorough commentary for the Luttrell facsimile, we will explore the who, what, and why of the creatures that live in these sacred pages.

There are two parts to a leaf in an illuminated manuscript: the recto and the verso (the front and the back). Pictured here is the 177r (recto) page of the Luttrell Psalter where a large bull-headed grotesque bares its bottom at a clustered ball of oak leaves which, as Brown describes, resembles a ‘pendulous scrotum.’ The top of the page includes the upper torso of a man combating a dragon-like grotesque by using a pottery jar as a shield for his arm. Brown suggests that this refers to wearing a pot on one's head as a sign of public penance. Quite distracting indeed!

The binding shown here by Smith Settle of Orley is in Nigerian goatskin blocked with a design by the English illustrator David Eccles.

Stay tuned for next week’s #Monster Monday as we dive into the ‘who’ of the Luttrell Psalter.

Close your eyes

Close your eyes

Hold me close

Monster Monday: Who was Luttrell?

Today we continue our series on the Luttrell Psalter for Monster Monday. One of the reasons the Luttrell Psalter is so widely studied and adored is the inclusion of its patron Sir Geoffrey Luttrell III (1276 - 1345) not only in the imagery of the Psalter, but also clearly within in the text itself!

This is page 202v of the Luttrell Psalter which concludes Psalms 108/109. That conclusion is emphasized by an orange fish with a bearded man’s head, our featured monster for today. Michelle P. Brown suggests this monster represents the forces of chaos tamed by Sir Geoffrey, the patron-knight himself, pictured below the monster. 

This intricate colophonic insertion is curiously placed in the middle of the book, almost interrupting the reader from their psalms. It is also interesting that the artist places Luttrell in the same designated area for distracting monsters.

The text above the knight reads, ‘D(omi)n(u)s Galfridus louterell me fieri fecit,’ meaning “Sir Geoffrey Luttrell had me made.” The framed miniature depicts a youthful, clean-shaven Geoffrey astride his war charger. He is fully armed and his horse is adorned with the Luttrell arms (blackbirds). His wife, Agnes Sutton, reaches up to grab his hand and pass him his lance. Behind her is their daughter-in-law, Beatrice Le Scrope. This is the most prominent image of the book’s patron and it is noteworthy and unusual that he is not depicted in prayer, or taking part in the surrounding text, but instead dressed as a warrior.

By the time the Psalter was made, which is debated between 1320 and 1340, Sir Geoffrey would have been well past his prime, and this specially commissioned image shows him in his glory days. Another theory of the youthful knight image is that it simultaneously depicts Geoffrey’s heir, Andrew Luttrell. Geoffrey’s role in securing the family lineage, as well as commissioning the book, might mean the colophon “Sir Geoffrey Luttrell had me made” applied to both the Psalter and his son. Whoever it is, they are ready for battle!

Next week we will focus more on actual monsters and what some of them may mean! 

View the first post in our Luttrell Psalter series here!

WEDNESDAY MORNING VIBE_