Dominican Psalter

The liturgical Psalter was probably created in the Dominican house at Nuremberg for use by the nuns of the convent of St Catherine, which had expanded considerably as a result of monastic reform, leading to a greater need for liturgical books. Manuscript psalters were produced in great numbers in series so that every nun could obtain a copy of her own, and they were decorated with painted initials.

The beginning of the first psalm is marked by an initial in blue, decorated with red flourishing in shapes typical of Nuremberg workshops (fol. 10r). The body of the letters is enhanced with reserved white dragons and leaf ornaments.

The patron saints of the diocese of Bamberg are highlighted in the calendar of the psalter: empress Kuni­gun­de and emperor Henry II, St Sebaldus and the holy bishop Otto. The Dominican saints Vincent Ferrer (canonised in 1455) and Catherine of Siena (canonised in 1461) are absent there, but have been added to the litany and orations.