King David in a River Matted Print

Illustrations from psalters for Psalm 68, the first psalm at Matins on Thursdays, reflect the aquatic imagery of the psalm's opening words, "Save me, O God: for the waters are come in even unto my soul." 

This lovely matted print from the fifteenth-century Beauchamp-Warwick Psalter-Hours, made in England, shows David in deep water, as did most English Psalters of this period. Here, the traditionally simple iconography is expanded, and David's immersion is set in a rural landscape with a walled city, windmill, and a shepherd minding his sheep.

This product was created to accompany the exhibition Sing a New Song: The Psalms in Medieval Art and Life on view at the Morgan Library & Museum September 12, 2025 through January 4, 2026.