Psalter-Hours of Bernat Martorell Facsimile Edition

The Psalter-Hours of Bernat Martorell is one of only two manuscripts known to have been illuminated by Bernat Martorell, the most prolific and sought-after artist of early fifteenth-century Catalonia. Made in Barcelona, it is a Christian prayer book in Latin with rubrics in Catalan comprising the complete biblical psalms, the Hours of the Virgin, the Office of the Dead, and other prayers. Its illumination comprises three full-page miniatures, eight historiated initials, and dozens of elaborate and intricate pen-flourished initials.

The finely illuminated manuscript was made for someone of high rank and wealth. The black wolf cub (llobató) on a lozenge-shaped gold ground in the bas-de-page of the opening page of the psalms suggests that the manuscript was made for a member of the Llobet or Llobera family.

Martorell and His Associate

Martorell himself was responsible for the psalter-hours's three full-page miniatures (fols. 15v, CXLIXv, and CLXIIIv) and the historiated initial B that opens the psalms (fol. Ir). Another artist was responsible for six of the historiated initials, and they collaborated on the initial for Psalm 109 (fol. XCIXv). Martorell's careful brushwork marks their collaboration.

A Prolific Atelier

Supervising a large workshop, Martorell was commissioned to produce several altarpieces in Barcelona and the surrounding area. His team also designed embroideries and stained glass and polychromed works of sculpture.

Martorell's painting, which is in the International Style practiced in courts throughout Europe, is distinguished by its soft coloration and serene quality, with a strong interest in settings and the effects of light, all features amply demonstrated in the miniature of the Annunciation to the Virgin (fol. CXLIXv).

Focus on the Psalms

The manuscript's historiated initials each introduce a biblical psalm, and most take direct inspiration for their subject matter from the following psalm verse. For example, the initial for Psalm 26, which opens with the verse "The Lord is my light and my salvation," depicts an old man kneeling and pointing to his eyes, an allusion to the idea of the Lord as light. The motif is continued in the border and the bas-de-page, where a half-figure of the haloed Lord points at the eye of a young man (fol. XXr).

Exquisite Pen-Flourishing

The manuscript's exuberant pen-flourished initials contribute to the visual appeal. Most are in a style dominated by spiraling designs with small, clustered flowers like tiny hydrangeas. For the largest initials, the spirals extend far into the page's left, upper, lower, and even right margins (e.g., at the beginning of Matins of the Hours of the Virgin on fol. CLIIv).

Comprehensive Guide to Devotion

The psalter-hours is remarkable for the presence of the apparatus for calculating the date of Easter and for a series of indices, including an alphabetical index of the psalms. Also found are liturgical texts rarely included in books intended for private devotion, such as a list of invitatory psalms for the prayer service of Matins.

Owned by Artists

Renowned Barcelona architect Josep Mestres i Gramatxes (1777-1847) is reported to have received the manuscript from a nun in the early nineteenth century. His grandson, the writer and illustrator Apeles Mestres‪ (1854-1936), intended the manuscript for his native city of Barcelona, and it was transferred to the Archivo Histórico in 1948.