Initial S: A Monk Praying in the Water

From the Getty Museum record

A monk engulfed in water clings to the central curve of an initial *S* that begins the first verse of Psalm 68, "Save me, O God: for the waters are come in even unto my soul." Once part of a manuscript used in monastic church services, the large scale of this leaf coupled with the size of its script made it practical for reading by a group of monks standing together at a lectern. Instead of the usual figure pictured for this psalm--King David, the purported author of the Psalms--the illuminator substituted a Benedictine monk to appeal to the monastic community who owned this manuscript and who read and sang from it.