Image
© Hildesheim, St Godehard |
| Psalm: |
51
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| Iconography: |
Christ
sits holding a staff and book indicating that he will destroy malice.
The woman personifies malice, the mother of all sin, and she is being
embraced by a man who offers her a wedding ring. Why do you glory
in malice...You have loved malice more than goodness. The woman's
foot is being gnawed by a snake/dragon. She also represents the sinful
Eve because God told the serpent he would lie in wait for her heel
(Genesis 3:15). Around her neck is a purse- the love of money being
the root of all evil (1 Tim 6:10). The seven people in the group probably
represent the seven deadly sins, with lust in the foreground embracing
malice.
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| Art: |
The
large size of this initial marks a three-fold division in the psalter.
The letters [uid gloriaris] have been omitted after the initial Q.
If the initial was one line shorter, these letters could have fitted
above in malitia.This miscalculation could be connected with the start
of the quire.
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| Thread
stitch: |
|
| Historical
Relevance: |
|
| Quire: |
First
page of quire 11
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