Anglo-Saxon iconography in the York Psalter Virgin cycle

The miniatures of the York Psalter (MS.U.3.2, Univ. of Glasgow Library), an important manuscript from the north of England dating ca 1170, have an obvious relation in form, style and iconography to the pictorial cycles of 12th century English manuscripts as exemplified by the St. Albans Psalter, the Pembroke College MS.120 and the Four Psalter Leaves. However, the York Psalter is distinguished by the unique iconography of its Virgin cycle on the last three illustrated folios—six scenes depicting the Death, Burial and Assumption--which sets it apart from other representations of the subject in manuscripts from the south of England. This thesis is concerned with the literary and artistic sources for this distinct imagery. Chapter II analyzes the Virgin cycle first against the common textual Latin source and then against one of its recensions in an Anglo-Saxon homily on the narrative. The Anglo-Saxon version is shown to explain some of the unusual iconographic features in the cycle. The final scene of Assumption, which does not accord with either of these texts, is analyzed from the point of view of its dramatic form, and the shrouded body motif is established as a characteristic trait of Anglo-Saxon and later English art. Chapter III discusses in general the tradition of Dormition-Assumption iconography in Continental art and in particular the special tradition for the theme in art of the British Isles, where by comparison it occurs earlier and in more developed form. The recurrence of a Death and Assumption cycle in expanded form in the York Psalter can be seen as a logical development of a subject habitually present in English art. Chapter IV notes that throughout the iconography of the other miniatures, the artist of the York Psalter has followed in the main a variety of models from Byzantine art and contemporary English illumination. But, in some unusual and inventive features, very often the prototype turns out to be insular art. Anglo-Saxon iconography, which was the formative influence on the Virgin cycle, has also contributed an imaginative aspect to some of the other miniatures as well. In an atmosphere of ever-increasing devotion to Mary, the artist of the York Psalter Virgin cycle has combined Anglo-Saxon literary sources and pictorial motifs. In so doing he has created a unique iconography, imbued with a new, highly original content.Arts, Faculty ofArt History, Visual Art and Theory, Department ofGraduat