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Psalm 67 with the Ascension
From the Bury Saint Edmunds Psalter
Canterbury or Bury Saint Edmunds, England, mid-11th century
Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vatican City, MS Reg. Lat. 12
This book follows the tradition of using drawings as commentary on the Psalms text; its accomplished works are confined to the margins surrounding the text. The most extensive set of drawings appear on this page, which showcases an Anglo-Saxon innovation in the depiction of the Ascension of Christ. Unlike earlier Ascensions, these attempt to portray the actual moment of vanishing, with half of Christ’s body cut off by the border of the page—our view of him corresponding with that of the many of witnesses who inhabit the left and right margins.