The Christina Psalter

the long version

This book is the first detailed analysis of an exquisitely illuminated thirteenth-century Parisian manuscript (GKS 1606, 4[degree], the Royal Library, Copenhagen) which was owned by Christina of Norway (1234-1262), daughter of Hakon IV and wife of Phillip of Castile and Leon. New information is provided about the Psalter's medieval and later components, its liturgical and other functions, missing illuminations and texts, as well as its provenance and date. Furthermore, the stylistic and iconographic similarities between the Psalter and some of the most important manuscripts illuminated in Paris in the period, like the three-volume Moralized Bibles, are discussed. Suggestions also are made about the meanings the texts and images might have had for their intended audience.