Durham Cathedral Library MS B.II.30 Cassiodorus on the Psalms
We have a slightly different task for you this week, as we can’t really claim that this lovely image of David (written in the circle he is holding) is unfinished, but as you can see, it is rather faded, and in need of a little attention. You might like to do a ‘sympathetic restoration’ of this one, or on the other hand, you could just give it a vibrant and flamboyant overhaul!
Durham Cathedral Library MS B.II.30 Cassiodorus on the Psalms is a local manuscript, produced in Northumbria in the second quarter of the 8th century. In our image, David is shown standing on a two-headed serpent, holding a spear. There is another image of King David in the same volume on f.81v, in which he is shown seated on a throne, playing a harp. Thanks to the wonders of technology you can examine both images side by side in our IIIF Mirador viewer (you can do this by clicking the ‘Change Layout’ button and selecting the arrangement of new windows to open):
For comparison, here is another image of David, in Durham Cathedral Library MS A.II.9 – Peter Lombard, In Psalmos f.63r. In this lovely historiated initial, he is being anointed by Samuel, with an attendant holding a crown to the right.
We hope you are enjoying colouring in and exploring our manuscripts. We have a few more for you in the coming weeks, as we keep our fingers crossed that we’ll be able to get back to digitisation soon. Next week, we will have another initial letter, a beautiful ‘E’ this time.
