On 14 June Brussels auction house Arenberg Auctions is auctioning an exceptional Psalter dating from 1478. The book was handwritten and decorated by nuns from the Bridgettine convent Mariënwater in the Netherlands. The starting price for the Psalter at auction is 40,000 euros.
The book is a rare relic from ‘a largely forgotten religious culture in the Low Countries’. ‘With its 21 large initials and its impeccable condition, it is an object that virtually has no equal,’ the auctioneers say. The book is six-centuries old but in ‘immaculate condition, with an original binding in vellum’.
The Psalter comprises a total of 235 sheets of parchment with Latin texts and in a ‘beautiful and regular handwriting’. Besides songs and litanies, the book also contains 150 psalms from the Old Testament.
Originated at Dutch Bridgettine monastery Mariënwater
The book comes from the Dutch monastery of Mariënwater. The monastery is part of the Bridgettine order, a closed female monastic order that recently appeared publicly at the consecration of Pope Leo XIV.
‘It was they who commissioned the Psalter. What makes it even more remarkable is that the monastic order was a double monastery, i.e. with men and women forming one religious community. Even though they did not live under one roof, it was very unusual for that time,’ says Henri Godts of Arenberg Auctions.
For decades the book was owned by a Belgian collector, who wishes to remain anonymous.