Alfonso Psalter
1284 Illumination on parchment, 24,1 x 16,5 cm British Museum, London This page depicting four female saints is from the Alfonso Psalter. The influence of the new style found in the books of Louis IX shortly reached England. Henry III, while he commissioned a great many paintings for his palaces and chapels was not a bibliophile. Almost all the painting on a larger scale has vanished and we do not, by way of compensation, possess a nucleus of royal manuscript such as is found in France. Two works survive, however, which, although not commissioned for Henry III, may nevertheless come within this category. One is known as the Douce Apocalypse, the other is the Alfonso Psalter. The Alfonso Psalter was intended for Edward's son, Alfonso. He died in 1294 and some of the decoration of his psalter belongs to a later date. Those parts of the manuscript which belong to the earliest and best phase (before 1284), like the page presented here, show strong French influence. Artist: MINIATURIST, English , Alfonso Psalter , 1251-1300 , English , illumination , religious