The Hellenic Institute of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Studies in Venice organized, together with the Sorbonne University, the École Nationale des Chartes, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and other institutions, an international meeting in Paris July 2 and 3, 2021, centered on the study of the Par. Gr. 139 held by the French National Library, called the “Paris Psalter”
This is the first time that an international conference has been organized with a significant participation of university professors from around the world, solely for this manuscript, which includes the psalms with annotations or with interpretations from the exegetical tradition of the Byzantine period. It was probably created for the milieu of the imperial court in the 10th century AD. It was bought from Constantinople to Paris around 1560, by an envoy of King Henry of France, and was introduced along with other manuscripts to the Royal Library in 1662.
The codex is illustrated with fourteen full-page miniatures of style of the ‘macedonian renaissance’. The subjects are Christian, but the artistic technique is reminiscent of the works of art from Fayoum or from other images of the Hellenistic period. In other words, we have a way of storytelling that is rare in Byzantine iconography. Beside the artistic importance, its content reflects the interpretations of the Psalms written by famous authors of the Byzantine period, whose works have in some cases been lost.
The purpose Hellenic Institute of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Studies in Venice is to highlight the various aspects of Greek culture during the Byzantine and Post-Byzantine period. The Institute, with this event and those planned for 2021, may be counted among the major international research centers focused on the Greek cultural heritage.
