The Theodore Psalter and the Rebuilding of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem

Abstract

The Byzantine decorated psalters form a particularly rich source of knowledge about cultural life. One such manuscript is the Theodore Psalter (London, BL Add. MS 19352), which was made in Constantinople in 1066. It is one of a group of psalters that have been studied in various contexts, including that of the depiction of sites in the Holy Land. Previous studies have not noted, however, that two illustrations in this manuscript appear to mark a highly important contemporary event: the rebuilding of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.