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FUNCTIONS AND MAJOR CATEGORIES
OF ILLUSTRATIONS
The Psalter is one of the most representative examples of so-called "marginal
Psalters," a term that Tikkanen established, distinguishing a tradition
springing from the monastic circles, as opposed to the "aristocratic
Psalters" intended for the high circles, including the Byzantine
emperor. Experts have established four major categories of illustrations
corresponding to types of exegesis (narrative, typological, and polemical),
to function (liturgical), and to monastic devotional life (moral),
(Tikkanen, 60-62).
TYPOLOGICAL ILLUSTRATIONS - POLEMICAL
ILLUSTRATIONS - LITURGICAL ILLUSTRATIONS
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Crucifixion Psalm 21:16-23
Crucifixion Psalm 68:21-26
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Crucifixion Psalm73:11
Crucifixion Psalm 131:4-12
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TYPOLOGICAL ILLUSTRATIONS
Typological illustrations, i.e., portraying Christ, Virgin Mary, and later the
saints, developed out of the early Patristic commentaries, especially after the
9th century victory of those promoting the use of religious images during the
Iconoclast controversies. The inspirations for typological illustrations came
from Origen, Eusebius of Caesarea, Theodore of Mopsuetia, Ambrose, New and Old
Testament texts, and apocryphal texts such as Paraleipomena
Jeremiou (Walter,
273-275). Marginal Psalters, including the Theodore Psalter, adopted some illustrations
from church mosaics such as those of the 6th century Ravenna churches, festal
iconography, and later, illustrations from Lectionaries such as the Rossano Codex.
The 6th-century manuscript integration of text and images from both
testaments used the top register of the manuscript page for scenes
from the Passion narrative
and the bottom register for illustrations of Old Testament prophets,
including David, prophesizing about Christ. This arrangement reflected
the sequence of
Gospel reading with Psalm singing during the Lenten Divine Liturgy (Loerke,
72).
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Psalm 25:1-6 
Chludov Psalter 9th century
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Psalm 68:26
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POLEMICAL ILLUSTRATIONS
Marginal illustrations represented not only the transformation of
Patristic Psalm commentaries into visual glosses, but also reflect
the historical turmoil
of
the Church. One of the most eroding controversies in the Church was the
Iconoclasm (725-843). The triumph over the Iconoclasts of those
who favored the use of
images found their way on the margins of Psalter books (Carrigan, 104).
This new type of illustration, called "polemical," appeared
in the 9th century Chludov Psalter in conjunction with the triumph
over the offenders
of images. The images themselves depict those conflicts (hyperlink). According
to most Byzantine scholars, marginal Psalters postdate the Iconoclastic
movement. Two centuries later, Theodore used those illustrations
as a reminder to the
Abbot of the historic role his monastery played in defeating Iconoclasm
and reused some of the illustrations from the Chludov Psalter (Anderson,
553).
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Liturgical actions
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Liturgists 
Typological/Christological
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LITURGICAL ILLUSTRATIONS
During 11th century, liturgical practices and iconography began to
evolve and change,  influenced by the composition of several new
liturgical works. Psalters
and Gospel books underwent rearrangements of texts and illustrations
to follow the liturgical functions and subdivisions of the cathedral
and monastic rites
(Galavaris, 22). St. Simeon Metaphrastes created a ten-volume monthly
service book of the lives of the saints, the Menologion, arranged
according to the
Church calendar.
 The
Theodore Psalter's artist borrowed illustrations from the Menologion
to announce Psalm texts included in services
commemorating particular
saints. With these "liturgical" illustrations, the artist
used other illustrations of liturgical actions, liturgists (e.g.,
John Chrysostom), and
an extensive network of images linked to liturgical texts (Tikkanen,
quoted in Barber)
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The
images presented here come from the electronic facsimile of the Theodore
PsalterTheodore
Psalter produced by Professor Charles
Barber of Notre Dame University, as published by the University
of Illinois Press.
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GENERAL
INFORMATION: Home:: ::Medieval
hypertexts:: ::Theodore Psalter::
::Gallery 1:: ::Gallery
2 ADVANCED RESEARCH: Elements
of hypertextuality in the page design:: ::Hypertextual
Analysis: Psalm 7:: ::Psalm 25::
::Psalm 32:: ::Function
and categories of illustrations:: ::Bibliography:: ::Conclusion
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