St. Albans Psalter - Painting and Prayer in Medieval England Paperback / softback

This is a fascinating look at one of the world's most important and renowned 12th-century manuscripts.

The St. Albans Psalter is one of the most important, famous, and puzzling books produced in 12th-century England.

It was probably created between 1120 and 1140 at St.

Albans Abbey. The manuscript's powerfully drawn figures and saturated colours are distinct from those in previous Anglo-Saxon painting and signal the arrival of the Romanesque style of illumination in England.

Although most 12th-century prayer books were not illustrated, the St.

Albans Psalter includes more than 40 full-page illuminations and over 200 historiated initials.

Decorated with gold and precious colours, the psalter offers a display unparalleled by any other English manuscript to survive from the time.

In 2012, scholars conservators, and scientists at the J.

Paul Getty Musesum conducted a close examination of the Psalter, gathering new evidence challenging several prevailing assumptions about this richly illustrated manuscript.